Entertaining with THE CHARLESTON SILVER LADY

Wales’ interesting history has led to the formation of a varied number of folk crafts. These crafts became emblematic of early times dating back to the 1600’s.

Lovespoons were traditionally carved by young men as gifts for their beloved. The spoons were of local woods and were crafted to show the skill of what would have been a largely uneducated rural population. The spoons were practical yet beautiful and often functioned as love letters to the intended recipient. These tokens of affection were carved with symbols such as the dragon and the daffodil that indicate Wales and the Celtic knot representing eternal love or twined stems that indicated togetherness.

Over time spoons of all sorts became gifts of affection. As Americans, we are more familiar with the practice of giving silver spoons as gifts to family members at special occasions, perhaps a birthday or wedding. Early examples of silver often feature iconic imagery used to convey information much like the lovespoons.

A study of silver patterns later in the 19th century will reveal how cleverly motifs were used. We see flowers used in the Victorian period—these images as powerful as words to a generation known for the language of flowers.

Lovespoons possessed these same floral images, lily of the valley, morning glory, daisy, pansy, violet, narcissus; there is literally at least one flower for each emotion. We see them combined on lovespoons to convey complicated feelings of romantic love as well as love of country.

Lovespoons appear to be the beginnings of a material culture associated with the most practical of all objects—a simple spoon. Silver spoons given to celebrate the birth of a child, the love of two people or to simply pass along, are now easy ways to say I love you. How lovely that nearly 300 years later 17th century Wales continues to inspire.