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posted 11-24-2015 05:12 AM            

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I have always assumed grapefruit was a late arrival on the citrus scene and on the breakfast or dining table. I don't recall seeing grapefruit spoons from earlier than the 20th century, until now! The spoon above is by Smith and Fearn, London, 1793. It is the right size and shape for grapefruit, but was grapefruit around then?

I suppose it might have been used for oranges (cf. Cape of Good Hope orange spoons) but I have never seen another English example of this date. Or is there some other specialist use I have not thought of?

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posted 11-24-2015 09:42 AM            

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Citrus Spoon

I believe the more common or generic name for this type of spoon is a citrus spoon. I have heard this shape spoon also called a grapefruit spoon, orange spoon, and fruit spoon. They all feature an elongated bowl and a pointed tip. The shape allows for easy eating of a halved segmented fruit, such as a grapefruit or an orange. The overall length tends to be approximately 5.5 to 6.5 inches in length. The spoon sometimes has a plain or serrated edge on the pointed end.

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posted 11-24-2015 10:08 AM            

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Several other posts which mention/show citrus/grapefruit/orange spoons:

• What Type of Spoon?
  
• Need help with my spoons plz
  
• Maker/pattern of this sterling "arrow" spoon?
  
• Dominick & Haff Trianon Pierced 189?
  
• Joseph Seymour Engraved Serving Fork
  
• Shiebler or Frank W Smith?
  
• A Victorian Mystery Spoon - What's it for?

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posted 11-24-2015 12:51 PM            

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Thanks Scott. It is the date of my spoon that puzzles me. Apart from this spoon I don't know of English examples earlier than the 20th century. Your links add American examples of the Victorian era but don't take us back to the 18th century.

The Cape of Good Hope orange spoons of the late 18th and early 19th century were made by local silversmiths of Dutch descent for sale to the population of Dutch descent. They do not seem to have been taken up by the British silversmiths who settled there with the advent of British rule.

I am left wondering whether one British family came across orange spoons on a visit to the Cape and commissioned their own on returning home. Or perhaps the resemblance of bowl shape is a coincidence and the spoon had a completely different use, perhaps to measure spoonfuls of liquid into a container with a small aperture for some medical or scientific purpose.

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posted 11-24-2015 01:55 PM            

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I can't recall ever seeing a citrus spoon, other than yours, with English marks. Not that I was ever looking specifically for citrus spoons with English marks.

I'm not a tea drinker. Although when in the UK, I wouldn't miss an opportunity to have afternoon tea. Perhaps it was the clotted cream (something we don't find here), scouns & finger sandwiches with the tea... It was all so goood!

The shape of the bowl on your spoon and a little imagination might suggest a modified use. I can imagine the shape would make a convenient sugar or honey spoon. The narrow end would add some control when sprinkling sugar or drizzling honey.

So "one British family came across orange spoons on a visit to the Cape and commissioned their own on returning home" might just be right.

Have you searched any of the early English newspapers for advertisements for citrus spoons, grapefruit spoons, orange spoons, and fruit spoons?

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posted 11-27-2015 01:21 PM            

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Thanks Scott. I haven't done a systematic search of adverts, but I have hunted round a bit and not found any reference to grapefruit spoons or similar prior to WW1. The earliest dated set of English grapefruit spoons (the usual name for them over here) I have noted was from 1921. That doesn't mean that there weren't earlier examples - just that I haven't found them. However I think it reasonable to conclude that the taste for half a grapefruit to start breakfast really took off in the 1920s. One of the many ways in which American taste was influencing us then.

I hesitate to say my 18th century spoon is unique but it is certainly very unusual and I'm afraid that we are left to guess at its original intended purpose unless somebody comes up with some hard evidence at some stage.

[This message has been edited by agphile (edited 11-27-2015).]

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posted 11-27-2015 02:11 PM            

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Oranges come from from Asia where they have being cultivated for thousands of years. They were introduced into Europe and the Caribbean around 1500 and by the mid 1600s they were widely grown in Europe in buildings that were basically permanent greenhouses and were called orangeries. Pomelos are also very ancient citrus fruits that have been around for about the same amount of time. Grapefruits are an accidental cross between oranges and pomelos that happened in the British colony of Barbados in the 1700s and have been around ever since.

My dad used to collect grapefruit spoons and he had a modest collection of about 150 of them. Most were American and most were souvenir spoons - mostly from Florida towns but also some were from Texas and California towns. They were made between the 1890s and 1920s for the most part. He used to eat a grapefruit every morning and chose a different spoon to use each time.

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posted 12-03-2015 05:12 AM            

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Agphile, a mate suggests that this might be a a post WWII "conversion"? When old patterns were upgraded to new uses as a way to give them renewed commercial relevance...

[This message has been edited by agleopar (edited 12-03-2015).]

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posted 12-03-2015 07:17 AM            

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I couldn't see any obvious sign of re-working when I got the spoon and was, perhaps wrongly, reassured by detail such as the thread edge pattern that continues undisturbed along the top outside edge of the bowl. Next time I see my retired spoon maker friend I'll ask him ti have a look at it. Just hope he doesn't say "Ah, yes. I remember doing that one".

So, Agleopar, your mate may be right. I'll wait to see what a silversmith thinks when he has the chance to handle the spoon.

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posted 12-03-2015 10:56 AM            

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Something I ought to add for those who may not be familiar with English spoon patterns of the period. In case anybody is thinking that the thread decoration may have been obliterated from the rest of the bowl during re-shaping, I should clarify that this thread and drop pattern is a standard one for the period. The thread always only continues round the rim to roughly the widest part of the bowl where it curves to the edge and disappears.

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