Ontario; 19th century; wood; 95 x 6 x 5 cm. CMC 73-574

The custom of transforming ordinary objects into ceremonial and presentational courtship tokens is of long standing in European folk culture. Chained spoons carved from a single piece of wood date back to at least the seventeenth century. The close fit of the two spoons may be a reference to the intimacies of the marriage bed, while the chain is probably a symbol of the unbreakable bonds of matrimony.

This pair of love-spoons, according to available information and comparison with similar examples, was probably made by a carver of Northern European, possibly Norwegian, origin.