Maidenhead Type Spoon

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Maidenhead spoons seem to have made their appearance in the late fourteenth century. That some were indented to represent the Virgin Mary is revealed in an inventory of Durham Priory, in 1446, in which "ij coclearia argentea at deaurata unius sectae, cum ymaginibus Beatae Mariae in fine eorundem" ("two partially gilded silver spoons with the image of the Holy Mary at their ends"), and again in a much later of 1525 in which spoons "knopped with the image of our Lady" are mentioned. In the present example, the Virgin, dressed in the fashion of the first half of the fifteenth century, wears an elaborate rolled headdress and a dress with a V-shaped neckline and a raised collar. These two spoons, although both probably of provincial workmanship since they bear no clearly identifiable London silver mark, are good examples of two of the most popular types of spoons in the late fourteenth centuries. The other most common types were the diamond point, the seal top, and the slip-top.

Medieval Art and The Cloisters

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world. Displayed in both The Met Fifth Avenue and in the Museum's branch in northern Manhattan, The Met Cloisters, the collection encompasses the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome in the fourth century to the beginning of the Renaissance in the early sixteenth century. It also includes pre-medieval European works of art created during the Bronze Age and early Iron Age.

Metropolitan Museum of Art