ANTI qUES
312
Fit. r
Stsoor R!.\lt,d.ktl,ptab.bb
ug/)t-
'1hc horivc luc r!o,l r, dcry rcdmk Jrsi
6.atlon, d,ough rhr {l,cd ((l flowingbrtrd in
rhc l,otiont sertiotr h strIi.iintlr laDrrhr
Scydrl ba$ orrlior ol,scurerhe dcuilofdrn
c\aDPre. F,/,J
dj in J{$
ttaft al nn
r.,s. e spoo! ItAcR?tur,1,4 .iltt.dttl d,ttnt)
A hrndsoD.and {c( ca.vcdpi.cc.ChiFd{onre(L
e,igesi svag Diotiy. rt thc tot
a, Eut
t P.,n)t!,tit.
fuc\
l',11,aU\.r.D
ir.{.J -- SrcoNRac( (,,,r,t,/ //lj)
t".\l
Tulipi$rf
whrcl.nd dirDoD(l nfiivs
an ir
krdiiDglv dispord oD tl,n st!!im!n. F i,.t
ot tr? J.t,\
slq..,Jttt
r,i:a,
Ri!t.
CarvedSpoonRacks
,4r \YrrLAc!
NL'ir\c*
HE lirst sorks on carlr' Jurnitureof Amencan scratchcs.S oneti rres, as i n exampl esi l lust f ar e( 1iD t his
origin ignorethe carveclspoor rack which,irdccd, atti cl e, the w ork i s more careti rl l \ do hc, bur alwavs)
I a. o.,t! ?, errtl .on < ro h 1.,p,-:o. oi | | o{ ,, _ r4' .,,endr, \i th .r \' -shapc.ttuol .
\\' re n. r rh" .p:n w hci t. i ,.,or:\e,r" !1h. .
. "'r r on
thc he.tdrenda\-;and i s ah anci ents' mbol ot - r hesuh, is not
certai D ,but the supposi ti onhas an i nher eht pf ol) abilit r .
In the star l i ke carvi ngsw hi ch often acco hpaiv t he sp; Lal
rvheel ,rc have another moti ve perhapsd er ived f f om r lie
healenly liodics, which woulrt seemto re enforce the ploba
I)i l i tr of i l ef\.anc;ent ori gi n for thi s c.r vir s.
In sonrei nstances,as i n one hetc sho s'n, t her e is t he
ti si ng sun ntti r-e i r the rop of a spoon r ack, as dist ingaished irom the sunburst, a tefm applied to rhe ftrll c;rcle.
' l -orxl e
, q iay oiit e e l e m e n r i n th e c a rv i n g i s a spi ral i vheel .
-1, r .l c,.,;l ." ne ur h p . rrl rrr i. : . "o. . \ i. wor k.
ji\
Sometimes, as in the caseaf box af r6j ,-, Fv1litaft ..f u1 ul -." -rp n Lsrrr- i \e:rrrruJu,rr no' - n, r , r l, pno'r ve
I t le i, , r-.' .rt ,,t rh L c^.rr\r' rg i . ,< -r i -r,.t. n, r, i h dre upper pnhel , i f w e
so refn th is divisior . This
"
(.e. rl er ro" (. h . r Jo ' nal
l l e ,rJ,k ol H 11. , , , . ,
il
l
'
"r : q: n
'Somc oIiLc iLlu*.[ti!h! hc,c lscd aptc cdnr dE rudDir li,r,'rr,? '/r?
,i o,;,.. l l F: no., l .r c :\e,r.< r-. I ctr e. rof r he ; i. Llle
Piktrt
c.txtrt
o.ht's in rhe harc rt..nt eattm P?hx!!oti|
R?rrtiJ,t.
!i!!tiu Coto\,Frumtnsna,
i91t.
secti oni s !eI] w el l done, and rather unu wal.
l$alla€ Nftri,,g,Fr,,tot,/rrr
tetcsted in the quaiDrer Ametican furniture. Analogous to
the cafving on these racks is rhat founcl on certail bores,
s one of t hem o f rh e w a l l , o r h a n g i n gtrp c .
The st,rle of carving used is tirat commonlv denoninated |risian, a word spelled variouslr, bur Leforirg to
r hnt pr ov inc e i r n o rth e a s te rn H o l l a rd , rvhi ch, vergi ng
toiratd the sonrce of Scandiravian nrotii.es, has something
in c om nr oh{ i th th e n . T h e o ri g i n o f th i s c arvi ng i s hazr-,
and dre motivcs set forth h it are of more of lessdoubtful
ANTI qUES
3r3
exploired, some of thc smaller specinens have eight points.
'fhe zigzag or rotch carving oD the faces of the applied
rack bars shows a motive common in Normar archite&ure,
aDd running bnck to a verv rernote period. The three bars
are dissnrilar, showirg agatu the niaker's fecundiry in
suik;ng wai- the desi gn.Thi s rack i s dre most el aborateknow n to me, but
since most of these specirnenshale come to light rvithin
thought of earh- i v" \ er1. Le er e\anp e. rnI t( Jppe.,r.
ti! rpe.il|.n it ddttd at the l,attotu,17$, ani watlo"
ltear thc Tcrq tlor. a.fthe Hu*on.It b ?ainted, or taitl,
ir a handsontesften, d d.tlo.at
o had a" tre turfm.
'l ogcthef with the r:rck illustfltcd in Figurc
4, $is piece is
fron the \\'allace Nutting Collection noiv in rhe \Vadsworth -{thenaeum .rt Hnrtlord.
Figurc r cadcs scvcral coats oI paint, which lnrgch'
obscure the details. On the bars of
this piece s'e see the same diamond
moti ve that appearedj n the bor derof
Irigure 3, and the serrated carviDg oD
i he erl ge,\' hi ch i s real l y half a dia
nord. 'l he motives of the rop seatio!
and the niiddle scttion are diflicult of
.l efi ni ri on, but that on drc t op, as
shorvn on somc Loxes, appc.rrs to be
a ki nd of doubl e battl e axe-That on
dre mmdle setlion is beyond rny
knopledge as to origin.'lhe bottonr
se&ion displai s the spiral \rheel with
onl y si x spokes, and w i th quaint
l l ouri shesor sgol l s at the side, as if
Fir. j
Sraov R^.'.(.?nb.t
b tktta,lh
t.t-
The upps settion rtpers to prtrar iheelev!
ridn ofa Duth J,ancllciK*,'I hrrs otthedcsigncoDshc ofeliborate L,rr not easilr drsiried
nv..tr. Uisi, r,k av,.
examinationof thesedian1oncls
shows
someof them to be wider thnn they
are high, whereasorhers are higher
than they are wide. ln the Lottom
ar e
,eilion. r,b e rwo sir,r.' .
- r ", ' e,
q! re e,.Dn ra e . rrn r en
much ol Gothic tracery, especialll in
\ ooo . - | \ \ .
p.aoaDi.att!_n,.,.
/...J
L. , \
Quitcdisti, l' s.anrtinryi i,, i6 n'ggstioo
rn . rri ans ut ar d; \: , : on " ti L em" u n ta i .,
pruoi
h e tq e e nlhe. l, ur t e. l a re d " .ro l l .. l l ,n :.o r" n o n
\ P l rri nl hr
tl -a r the $or ( er dio ro f' o ra n e h ;n s e l i ro a
.o u rce of de5; q. , b, , r fr" " ,' a d o p -F dq h rre v e r l ' " r\ousht
sa , a r r r a& iv c r h. r eve r h ; fo u n .Li . rh :-' . rrrrh .r. no' tr
i n th e s e t wo s t ar s by th e fa & th a t th e r ru n o u t o vef the
ma rg i n, at d int er r upt th e c o n ti n u i tv o fi ts d e s i g h V ari ants
of the lower stars appear on the fve knobs at the top ol
the spoon rack, as if the carver wished to show drat his
invention was not limited to one design. There occur
th r:s,i n t he s ingle pie c e ,a t l e a s t s e v e n d i l i e re n t k i nds ol
stars. \\hile the more formal examples have six points,
l i l e a s nowllak e, an d re a l l y a re w o n d e rfu l l v s l ni l ar to
th e n a gnilied s now tl a k e s q h i c h h a re b e e n recentl y
rh' $1" "
hr' l
ri ke, $i rg'
Thi . rr.L r:t'
. \ i d.n I I I : " .
tended ro be
pi erced,as i t i s,
on the central
knob, in order to
attnch a cord or
hang on a rai l ,
whereasFigurer
sas doubtl ess
desi gredto hare
Iit.
6
SPnoN R^.L (,]de,l ,7j)
A hxndsoD. cx.frtlc of the Revolrtionary
pdiod. The n$il diaDoDd rnd *af {hed
notiva occu. lnl, rhe xddnion ol r doubl.
heatr
6\ip d.sier. Fat
,r
BaLl.ltn,
^
ANTI qUES
3r+
Figure 2 com-
those on liigure J,
js dre fullr devel
l,s.7
the retentior ofstars a,d iD three of rhe se&ions aserrated
mot'vei but for the rest rhere seehs jittle conne&ion be_
$een,,h, a-d hep-e.ed| rg eran ptt.. l n . ne ser und. ec_
'
non -ne rafge ' norj re m grrr b( a .foq n or . Roser or a! \
' r- nl vari uu. or' j e,rs. H ow det.gt-ri uti , r . r o be abt e
t6
,r) rha * no i \" ha..hr, or rl rr orgi r, t *. ause r hu,
a
nrru or Inrster). rr rhfo\vh about rhe carv ils
1l - ri ri i ofrhi . pre.e IooL. dr.ri nR ty Sc) r or nar . ar .
gLre 6 r. ve \ . r+ ful l l grd harJ.orne, ) done. t r
e\ _
,r
r r,rr. fve-rt oi .he mori ve, rh:c\ * e hrr e r . nr ion. d
in
drsossing F-igue 3, togetier with four heart-tlke scro
s,
r$o,or,w r, ch re,' ,\ej 14
Tl :s prr.e.. s: ghr t y br ot er i
ar Ini uol tom. $ here.pert.aD s,
r kn:i < Lo r or sone or her
con_stluctro'rras once 4ttached. It is initiated and dated,
(' . V . t77j . 1 h:. pror< s
rJrL
or . he im oulse
oi L1 \i " S i r ho,,.-tot | ,,rer,:1. Lp rc r h, - r im e o?, h(
SPoosIr{cK{\DBo\ Q,at.t4.;!rL
An intert*inq vrria,t in rhjch rrrl$ sutrdo
ho{ldliq rppcfs in drrokttc.'Lh.
rick 6rs
ar slort.d in noit, in*!
olDtrety tised.
this style of carving. One noticesa
zigzagor seffatedmorive at rhe ends
of the box. The scroll ac rhe top of
this pieceis unusual.The centralDortion;lir is a ]inenfold.
1ca,igin of this?iece nal kn.wn
to ne, but ?rettnablr it^ k"te Jtui,
at( I (rra,) - spoo^"
RlcK a\D Bor (,'dr
Nofth 7e,!4' or canff,t Pc ns)tltraria.
An intere*iis sp(inln h rlinh i Tcutooil
Figure 4 departsfrom the notives
hncr rcnN to hrverxF!$d
itseltiD dr r$;
of the previouslr-Ieated examDl.s.
rigues of d,c crc*iDg. -{gain tlEc alc i[.
dortdd
baN
rnJ
thc
box
betorv.
Pr'!.
,.{rl
The k;b for liangirg the ra& is
,ak,,!",
kt tEsxlht
ltrr1r 4 t,q[)b,,'
carvedsomewhatafter ihe mannerof
a ball andcrescent. The orhermotives
in all rhe se&ions, excepr that at the botrom, are m;xed.
inn,
ilr ere ' i n g , a rc n o r s L \c e p r:b ' eo r p,(:.. defi " h: le
ior
.
T
he
r " o L e rrc e n rh e b rn .e e rl l i k " a , ;n.:" :,," " , "
-i
o f t he lunet t e m o ti v e , b u t th i s i s n o t c a rri e d out i n ful l j
and the other elements are more or less occult. 'l'he baseis
tastefully arranged, with a diamond band and depending
dentils similar to those appearirg on nanrels ard Greek
1:t1earigil| o.f lAis Hanplc
untnawll.
Tli! er.tl.nt
tpnrlu
@at fo /trl
ear Btthhle . Pennr adk;a
Figure 7. olius an interesting vafl ant. l
thrs car th e spoon r - ck!
hrve \l i ts on rhe front r nor e in accorduce wjth what is usualtv s€enon
the shelves of Pennsylvania'dressers.
The motlves here are the same as
th osepreriously d;scussed,except tha r
rhe two spiral wheels are morJeiabcl
rnte than rhose hitherto noticed, and
are,done in sonewhar nodell€d relief,
rnd tne sprrarb:,re In x com Pound
cur\ e, l rkc a moLl ernca r wheel. r he
- {r
centfesare si x poi ri ed sr ar s.
Tli' r.E.r, bx.thei atth Figurc 3, i:
atrrEd 1,) th t. Ceoryr R.Fe4rinr,7,.,
./ Rorto" and Ir,)tao',|.
. Figurc 8 offers a repetirion of prenous motrves, except that rhe quaint
cut outsatrhe roD
.uece, rl -e pro
r.!" ,.,n" ' ' t:.t
w e drew on the
blackboatd in our
ch;ldhood, stradcllirg out as they
do and
.raching
_Fisure5 helong.ro rhp^ \\'ashirgror He.r..ouir-etr, rl,e ,ruggte of :
I\loni'rown.\eu Jrr,er. H"re aca:1lppeir Inrrk.. .le. dx;l\ Jo;err,o-;n
parturesfromprecedinemoiives.We observe;! onesecl;on utter abandor of
a,& 9- SPoo\ Rrc( rND Rox
Rlb tuorftion rnT trn\ trc vicvcd as mnvcndonrr (yqgnen k<. Sor.h m ing ot the
ANTIqUES
3r5
eppearsi n the dccorati onof i ron utensi l s,so frcqucht l\
nmd h P enrsr' 1rari .r,qhere the star, d1e he ar r , t he
\
\,1 -el ., ,.1 .. .r.. . I' r r
ir
uj hr 'r . r L l
"r "
upon i ron.' l heconcl usi oni s obvi ousthat sucharticlesr er e
nrostl \' gi fts to sN ecthear$ or { i ves, j ust as t he her r r
moti \.cchcsti h N ew E ngl anrLw asoftcn si mi l arl l Lest owed.
Thc wooris usciLin thcse racks are sometimesaccurately
to t c rl cton.i ned onl l bl chemi calanal rsi s. ' l he m at er ial
i s that cal l ed,i n the w estern| ordcrs of C ornctti cut , r vhit c
w ood. B eyond \ew E ngl atd i t i s ti .rsdr c.]l l e. ]poplaf .
It i s a seD i hard N ood of cl .se gfi ri n, l (aturel ess,r nd { cll
rdapted nr si rrpl c carri ng.
I havc al l ' al s beer fasci ratcdbr thesespoonre cks,and
l eel that thel ' rverea vcr\ .l l sti natanrt i D l Frtant elem ent
of earl 1.furni nrrc, or sl touLl I sar, rl c.orati ' e ut er silsi
ol ri
ot,r". . r f \ i, E
| | - -' xr .. ,
.1r.rl (\ ' ' l
spi nni ngwhccls
cl ,)scl vrel atedt. ful i narl rrse.S onrcti nrcs
afc l i ,ur(L cah.d, and the l oom stool has,peLhaps,eiat 'oratc Ll ecorati repai nti rg and sl i ght carri ng.
l l esi desthe carved racks * ' hi ch I havc Lccn dcsct il, ing,
vatirxs otlcts are founrl, not carvecl,of attlactivc dcsign,
wrth scrcllcd rnd molded slde Loatds, and ahv.l s, so far as
I here obserred,i ri th a kni fe Lo\ ai tl Lcb!sc. \\' hc t hcr it is
.., 1
.
,.r l ' rr e Lor ".
' .,,,pl .
rere ntlc bcl;rc honsehoklkhives .an,e iDto Lrse,I .lo not
knorv,l ,ut rhc supposi ti onsccmsprol ,abl e.It i s w e ll known
Lhat i n thc earl i cstti ne crcrr i ndi ri dual ctri ed his own
cl asp kni i c to nsc rt tahl e. i t the cl ose of thc r r cal hc
proLa| l l cl carcd thc i nstfun)crt oD a pi ece oi br eadl As
to forlis, \,c li'ro\r that trgcts crne first. l lie fork was the
i rs. utensi l ol ri !i l i zati on. B ut the kni i i Loxcs,of couf se,
rvoc also irtcrrtcrl ii,r ti,rks, gdrerallr of drc t",o tined
rrti ct,v, w i dr honr handl es.
I $al l scl conre fron ti mc to ti mc ktow l edge, such as
!rust i revi tabl rxr;se ti om corl pafi sot,i n tel 3ri .n r . r h. r .
i nteresti ng rel i cs of e l r' -\mcri c,rn househok Lar t . Thc
tLati ngol thcsc rrti cl es i s vcrr' l l i ffi cul t, bur i t is f air t o
'l h er e s as , r nong th e G e n ra n s c td .rs j n AD r cri ca,as presune that ther w ere i n usc and nade throughout t he
rvhol c oi the ci ghtccnth ccnturr, l )nt rhar thcif usc dcxmons thc Llollatrd$s rnd the Srvedcs,:r verv stLong fecl
i n g l o f t hc ( lec or r t io no I u te n s i L s -a tu e l i n gn o t D carl ! so ctcaserltorvarrl si ts cl osc.l t i s al so rel r prol ,al ,let hat t he
mti te ablc am ong t he F )n g l i s hs c ttl c rs .' l h e s e meterdencv eatl i estcxarrpl esi n A moi ca ori gi raterl i n the l at t er f ar t
of tl e seventeenthccntLrn, l )ut I havc not l ,ce n able t o
rhevrlori,E
'Lik$!isc nLggctir. oii trttcn, Nt ir L)1.lnl rq)cr. C"Dtrr
q\r,a.Li
urcc i rs* i l ,cd dati ngs ro a pcri o,1so ear1r.
661.
t91j i\'oL. \'lI, |.
fo, lib,uar',
iLILL+rrnt' itr
t a t th e l i d o l th e k n j l ! hox
rl tl i g ht . r ' lt r v ill l, c o b s e rv e Lth
i n th i s c r s c is hingedw i th rv o o rL epni n s .
lt i! raj'jbttl !h.1 liit"tt
7 dlin ,t .u". ftunl tlt! rt!,1.
r.utu| o! tl",ttld .!anplL,s con:idod.
fi g l r e t is a s im p l e r i o rn o f ra c k a rd k ri fc l ,ox. ' I he
ri cco r ar iorat t he t op i s th a t o fa n e v e l g rc c ntre e .The no
ti ve s or her " is e ar e s i mp l e .1 1 i i sp i e c ec v i d e n tl t re p reserts
th e rl e c adeDtt c r x nl.
On c or nor e s r all l ,o rc s s )ro rv i n gth i s s tr' 1 eo f carri ng
Ia ve been f ound on th e V a i n e c o a s t, b u r 4 1 1th c spoon
ra cks whic h I he" c l ,c e n a l )l e to trx c e rv e refo u n d w here
d c Hollar r Ler sor t h e S w e d e ss e ttl e d . { rp n n d d o w t the
Hu d so n,in nor t her n N e w J e rs e ),a n d a l o n g t| c D cl a$i fc
xre th es ouf c c s if oln\ h i c h a l l th a tl h a v e s e e n h a vecomc.
On c r ec allst hat Srv e d e si n a l i rn i te d n u rrb c r s cttl ed on
the Dclarvare belore the davs of \\'illiam Pcnn. Of course
it is ;mpossiLlc to say norv rvhedret thc racks fourd oI the
L l cl a *ar e, r v hic har e fe w i n n u m b o , s e re m a d eu nder thc
H o l l a nd or t he S s ' c rl i s hi n fl u c n c c ,l ,u t th e H o l l a nd ori gi n
sce mst hc nior c f r ob a b l e .
to t th e d i s p l a y o f pcw ttr
Of cour s et he r ac k b a ' s
" c re
sp o o ns .I n er er y ins ta n c c th c 4 tra i ,s c t,trt p ro rides tut
trcl vc . lhat is t o s a v , i i th c tc re re th re e b a ts , th tc arc
i o u r s lot s in c ac h. 1 fth e re rv e re tl t l ,rrs tn c rc $ c.. sr\
sl o ts n c ac h, t ir c ugh i n rn e i rs ra n c erh ..c i s ,te l .ng sl ot,
n rme lr , on t hc t r o b e rs o i fi g u re :. It \rs (l o rb t l essrhc
.l e l i g h t oi t he l) ut c h h o u s c w i l c n ) (L i s p l i v h c t rourd
l ,o s.l c r sl poons , polish c Llli k c n ,i rro rs .i n th e s cra c k s,on the
$ a l l s oF hc f ! : f t nt k it c h e n .
\\'c c annoit oo m r ch a rh ri rc th c l i c l i n g rh i c h p r ompted
th c n a k ing of t hes ea rti c l e st. l ,e s e t u p i tr th e k i t chcf. 1r
j n d i cat eda s anealie c ti o nfrr th e s i n rp l ew o rl o fl i fc ani l an
erlift to ornanrtnt anrl hon,,r it. Iior n'e are prcsuming thet
th csc er t ic lc sr v er eon k i tc h c n * a l 1 s . If i t s h o u l db c proten
a t l a st t hat s om eow n c l s d i q rl a fe d th c n i n th c i r parl ors,
th a r \ ! ul( L b. onlv fo l l o w i n g d re c u s to n o f d i spl al i nq