Artists' Spoons & Related Table Cutlery (Paperback)

This fully colour illustrated work covers the most artistically progressive period for British table cutlery between 1870 and 1940, and maps its evolution through a series of artistic periods, including Art Deco and the Arts & Crafts revival, to the present day. For the humble spoon, the Arts & Craft period brought in new and exotic styles developed from the changing taste that sprang from the Great Exhibition of 1851. The artistic styles were largely based around natural form and many makers turned against the mass production of the industrial age. The golden age for Liberty & Company provided a platform for designers such as Archibald Knox, Oliver Baker, Bernard Cuzner and the Silver Studio with their bold, and often-colourful, designs for spoons. The rise of women who rivalled their male counterparts in design and craft, particularly in the fields of jewellery and small silverware, was particularly significant at this time.