This very small sterling spoon was made in American at the turn of the century 20th century. There is nothing too remarkable about its 3-5/8 length or its lightly gold washed bowl. It appears to be like so many spoons of it’s time period, something relegated to a drawer or box—rarely used and hardly thought about.

However, this small piece of Charleston history has a tale to tell.

It was crafted for the ill-fated South Carolina Interstate and West Indies Exposition. This event was not well received, not well funded and ended up being not well attended.

The detail of the spoon is quite beautiful with Charleston, South Carolina embossed down the handle, a palmetto tree and bale of cotton complete the theme. The bowl bears the dates and title of the exposition. Beautifully rendered on the back of the bowl is an image of Ft. Sumter.

It is recorded that from an opening date of December 1, 1901, with a closing date of June 20, 1902, only 675,000 visitors attended. This figures pales in comparison to other expositions of this time period.

For this reason, not much memorabilia was produced, making this little spoon a big piece of Charleston history.

With the passage of time, hundreds of thousands of people have traversed the campus of the Citadel, attended functions at Lowndes Grove and visited Hampton Park, likely never knowing these were the locations of this turn-of-the-century event. How ironic that so many have walked the same grounds that so few walked just a century before. How remarkable that such a complex story can be held within the confines of a small, silver spoon.

If you are interested in seeing pieces like this and learning more, you may sign up for lectures and program provided by The Charleston Silver Lady. Please email her to get on her list for upcoming appraisal events, classes and special Antiques School classes. Dawn provides over 200 lecture programs a year around the US. Read more at www.charlestonsilverladywest.com