A wooden spoon is a spoon made from wood. The word spoon derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of wood or horn carved from a larger piece.¹ Wooden spoons were easy to carve and thus inexpensive, making them common throughout history. Wooden spoons have been made in virtually every nation on earth and (compared to silver or pewter or gold spoons) represent the ordinary artisan and reflect the life of ordinary folk: this is their ‘folk art’.

The English Iron Age Celts (C. 250BC) used them. This is evidenced by an example of a small ladle discovered during archaeological excavations at the Glastonbury Lake Village. Roman period spoons have been recovered from excavations in the City of London. The Anglo Saxons were great workers of wood, as were the Vikings, and both these groups of settlers to the British Isles produced wooden spoons for domestic uses.

Each region, sometimes each village, will produce their own very distinct style and type of spoon. Many African examples are carved with wild animals and are aimed at the tourist market; there are others that are ceremonial and contain much symbolism. Distinctive painted spoons have been made in the Khokhloma region of Russia for nearly 200 years, originally for domestic use and in more recent times as tourist objects. Today, wooden spoons in western cultures are generally large spoons used for mixing ingredients for cooking or baking.

Traditionally, intricately-carved wooden spoons have been used as tokens of affection in Wales. Each spoon could contain different meaning as shown by the use of various symbols, for instance: a chain would mean a wish to be together forever; a diamond would mean wealth or good fortune; a cross would mean faith; a flower would mean affection; or a dragon for protection. Many sailors carved spoons as they had much free time at sea on their long voyages, they would carve such symbols as anchors or ships into the spoon. Although the Welsh love spoon has its unique qualities, other styles of love spoons have been made in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, notably Romania.

Wooden spoons are also used as spanking implements to punish children or in BDSM sessions.

See also

• Wooden spoon (award)

External links

• Welsh Love Spoons
• Stuart King's collection of carved wooden spoons

References

• ¹Encyclopedia Britannica 15th edition, volume IX