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This and 59 other objects are a part of a set whose first object is Object ID #18705797.

Object Timeline

-0001

1996

  • We acquired this object.

1998

2006

2015

2024

  • You found it!

Dessert Spoon with Scorpion Spoon

This is a spoon. It was manufactured by C. V. Gibert. It is dated ca. 1890 and we acquired it in 1996. Its medium is silver. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

This is a rare opportunity for the museum to acquire a superlative service of flatware that meets the highest standards of design criteria and embodies our mission: to explore the many ways that design affects our daily lives.
Although this service was probably intended as much for display as for use, it was certainly designed to be a functional element in a final dinner course. It is a wonderful example of the expansive, highly specialized sets of cutlery that were considered ceremonially and functionally necessary for the elegant dinner table in late 19th-century Europe and America. Each piece of the service is an entirely unique sculptural unit. This, in combination with the fact that all of the pieces are numbered to correspond with slots in the case trays, suggests that the set was very special, perhaps even made for display at the Paris 1889 International Exhibition.

It is credited Museum purchase from Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, Decorative Arts Association Acquisition, and Sarah Cooper-Hewitt Funds.

  • Fork (Germany)
  • coral, gilt silver.
  • The Robert L. Metzenberg Collection, gift of Eleanor L. Metzenberg.
  • 1985-103-81

Its dimensions are

L x W x D: 17.9 x 3.8 x 3 cm (7 1/16 x 1 1/2 x 1 3/16 in.)

Cite this object as

Dessert Spoon with Scorpion Spoon; Manufactured by Charles Victor Gibert (French); France; silver; L x W x D: 17.9 x 3.8 x 3 cm (7 1/16 x 1 1/2 x 1 3/16 in.); Museum purchase from Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, Decorative Arts Association Acquisition, and Sarah Cooper-Hewitt Funds; 1996-56-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005.

This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18653767/ |title=Dessert Spoon with Scorpion Spoon |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=19 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>