posted 10-23-2012 09:21 PM            

The three bars with curled ends move back and forth freely within the open shape at the top. The finial is tiny bird.

Does anybody know what the handle of this spoon depicts? Where the spoon might be from? The bowl has an unusual shape, and I am not sure if it is related to a specific function or purely decorative.

posted 10-25-2012 09:18 AM            

The three bars could be meat hooks that represent the thorns. They remind me of hooks my father used to hang meat in his meat market’s walk-in cooler. One end hung on a bar and the other end was driven into the carcass.

Why someone would make a spoon based on this rather improbable interpretation is another question.

In any event it is an interesting spoon.

posted 10-26-2012 10:24 PM            

quote:

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sistrum

A sistrum (plural: sistrums or Latin sistra) is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient Iraq and Egypt. It consists of a handle and a U-shaped metal frame, made of brass or bronze and between 76 and 30 cm in width. When shaken the small rings or loops of thin metal on its movable crossbars produce a sound that can be from a soft CLANK to a loud jangling. The name derives from the Greek verb σείω, seio, to shake, and σείστρον, seistron, is that which is being shaken. Its name in the ancient Egyptian language was sekhem (sḫm) and sesheshet (sššt). Sekhem is the simpler, hoop-like sistrum, while sesheshet (an onomatopoeic word) is the naos-shaped one.

A sekhem style sistrum.




Isis holding a sistrum and an oinochoe.
oinochoe = (Ancient Greek: οἰνοχόη) is a wine jug.

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