Spoon

Roman spoons served for eating and other everyday tasks. The terms cochlear and ligula refer to different forms, not simply the modern division into teaspoons and tablespoons.

Surviving examples include copper-alloy and silver objects as well as compound utensils. Copper and bronze are not precious metals. Bowl shape, handle ending, inscriptions and context help distinguish tableware from small implements with other functions.

Glass spoon with a silver handle. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; first half of the first century CE.

Roman silver tableware. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; mid-first century BCE.

Roman silver tableware. National Archaeological Museum, Naples; first century CE.

Some Roman utensils combined several tools. The third-century CE silver folding implement in the Fitzwilliam Museum (GR.1.1991) includes a spoon, fork and other components. The museum treats it as a luxury object, not standard equipment for every soldier.

The Metropolitan Museum’s Spoon with a Panther (17.192.254) dates to the third–fourth century CE. It is made of silvered copper alloy with niello. A slit in the handle may have accommodated a blade, but the museum presents that function as a possibility.

Spoon with a panther, detail of the handle. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17.192.254; silvered copper alloy and niello, third–fourth century CE.

Spoon with a panther, detail. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17.192.254; third–fourth century CE.

Spoon with a panther, another detail. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17.192.254; third–fourth century CE.

Spoon with a panther, another view. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 17.192.254; third–fourth century CE.

Roman silver spoon, 13 cm long; fourth century CE.

Small spoons with rounded bowls and long handles are often called cochlearia. Some handles end in a point that could assist with eating eggs or shellfish. Ligula is applied to other, often more elongated forms; archaeological examples do not always fit a simple typology.

Materials and elaborate decoration could display wealth, but do not establish occupation or military rank. A silver set, an individual bronze spoon and a folding implement should each be interpreted in context.

Select a replica by date, bowl shape and surface finish. A luxurious Late Roman utensil should not automatically join an Early Imperial marching kit. Objects used for eating today must be made from safe materials; a decorative coating alone does not establish safety.

Related topics

Ancient military campaigns, Fork, Knife

Literature and sources

• Spoon with a Panther, 17.192.254: Metropolitan Museum.
• Roman compound utensil, GR.1.1991: Fitzwilliam Museum.

Additional views

Roman combined spoon and fork. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; third century CE.

Roman silver spoon, third century CE.

Glass spoon from a tomb at Idalion, Cyprus. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 74.51.313; fourth century CE. Length: 17.8 cm.

Roman bone spoon from Cyprus. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 74.51.5198; first century CE. Length: 10.8 cm.

Late Roman spoon made of silvered copper alloy, not a copper-silver alloy. Metropolitan Museum, 17.191.211; fourth–fifth century CE. 18.9 × 2.9 × 1.6 cm.

Late Roman spoon made of silvered copper alloy, not a copper-silver alloy. Metropolitan Museum, 17.191.211; fourth–fifth century CE. 18.9 × 2.9 × 1.6 cm.

Late Roman spoon made of silvered copper alloy, not a copper-silver alloy. Metropolitan Museum, 17.191.211; fourth–fifth century CE. 18.9 × 2.9 × 1.6 cm.

Late Roman spoon made of silvered copper alloy, not a copper-silver alloy. Metropolitan Museum, 17.191.211; fourth–fifth century CE. 18.9 × 2.9 × 1.6 cm.

Roman silver spoon originally combined with a knife. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 19.192.64; third century CE. Length: 10.6 cm.

Glass spoon, eastern Mediterranean. State Hermitage Museum, GR-10139; second–third century CE. Length: 19.1 cm.

Roman glass spoon from Nazareth. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 15.43.235; first–third century CE.

Roman copper-alloy spoon, attributed to Gaul. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 47.107.2; first–fourth century CE.

Copper-alloy spoon from the Tivoli hoard. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 20.49.10; first–third century CE. Length: 11.2 cm.

Silver spoon described as Roman, third–fourth century CE. Private collection, Artemis Gallery, lot 58A, 11 July 2019. Archaeological provenance not independently confirmed.

Roman silver tableware. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; mid-first century BCE. Another view.