  
  About the Artwork
  
  
  Spoons are an invention of great antiquity, perhaps developing from shells used to scoop up food. Spoons were frequently made in matching sets of twelve and were used as tableware in the houses of the wealthy. The silver spoon is an elegant and restrained example created during the later Roman Empire. An egg-shaped bowl is attached to the long tapering handle by a curving volute. Two simple incised parallel lines embellish the flat rectangular lower part of the handle; a triple-knobbed collar forms the transition between the two sections of the handle.
  
  
  Title
  Spoon
  
  
  Artwork Date
  4th century CE
  
  Artist
  ----------
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  ----------
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Roman
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  ----------
  
  
  Medium
  Silver
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 6 1/4 &Atilde;&#151; 1 &Atilde;&#151; 5/8 inches (15.9 &Atilde;&#151; 2.5 &Atilde;&#151; 1.6 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Silver
  
  
  Department
  Greco-Roman and Ancient European
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase with funds from Lillian Henkel Haass
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  50.86
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
