More Spoons - continuing!

[LindasPencils]

Surely I am not the only one drawing out there? I am sure many of you are isloating, so plenty of time to hit the drawing board and post! Please, I feel like I am monopolising the forum.

two more spoons for your comments. Please do - any input is always welcome, especially for improvements.

Soup Spoon.jpg

Feeding Spoon.jpg

Colour and graphite pencil of 250gsm Lana Bristol board.

[Laurene]

Here I am! I was AWOL for awhile due to work but I’m back now. It’s good to know that you’re well and continuing your spoon series.

You didn’t give us the stories behind these but you didn’t have to. The second is clearly closely tied to your family, and I have my own story to go with the first one. That spoon is exactly like one that my mother used with almost every meal when I was growing up. I have that spoon now and every time I pick it up I see my mother’s hand. Not gonna lie, brought a bit of a tear to my eyes but in a good way,

[Mike Sibley]

Well, I'm here working hard on the next video. And wondering where the stories are to go with your spoons. Super work, as always, and the second one intrigues me... what's its use?

[LindasPencils]

Hi Laurene! Glad to see you back and are well... and working! lol, the feeding spoon I found in the Op Shop, but I am intrigued to hear your story. Maybe you should add a bit more and I can add it to the par? How long did you use it for? All the kids? Or just you? Was it actually useful?

And Mike, looking forward to your next video. I did write the pars but didn't bother to post, so here they are:

Feeding Spoon – Unknown maker, EPNS Sheffield, pattern ‘Reed and Bow’
Scrabbling in the cutlery box at the rear of the Sacred Heart Op Shop I pulled out this unusual shaped spoon and wondered what the heck I had found. My friend Google soon told me I had discovered a 1920/30’s feeding spoon, often given as a Christening gift. There is no makers mark, but the Reed and Bow pattern on the stem was very popular at Coopers Bros of Sheffield during that time and dates the spoon nicely. These spoons often came in a set of two, the other piece being a sort of hoe shaped food pusher. Neither pieces of cutlery look very practical to me. (To maybe add: But my friend Laurene tells me she used one just like it for every meal while growing up, and saw service through ? sisters and brothers) Both items have fallen out of favour these days, along with the vintage hospital bracelets that were made of milk glass used in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s to identify mothers and their babies. Made from blue or pink milk glass beads with double sided letter beads they were tied around the infants left wrist and only removed by the mother once she had returned home with her newborn. My mother saved this bracelet from one of her three daughters born in 1951, 1955 and 1960 – she was not sure which!

Soup Spoon – Dixon Sheffield, EPBS, pattern ‘Berries and Leaves’
Ah! Soup! There is something so comforting in a bowl of thick, hearty, homemade soup on a cold winter’s night. With a crusty bread roll on the side, what’s not to like?
May’s Pumpkin soup recipe
This was given to me 40 years ago by an elderly lady who had made it since the Depression years. It is still in Imperial measures but converts well. It is quick, delicious, and easy to remember. Serves 4 but can be easily doubled:
Ingredients:
• Small butternut pumpkin to around 1 lb (500g or so)
• 1 pint of full cream milk (500 ml is close)
• 1 pint good chicken stock (you can use a stock cube if you must but real stock is better)
• Small white onion finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Fresh nutmeg – about ¼ teaspoon freshly grated
• Salt and pepper
• Garnishes: chopped chives/chopped parsley/sour cream/fresh cream/extra grated nutmeg

Method:
Remove the skin and seeds of the pumpkin. Chop the flesh into 1inch cubes (2 or 3 cm). Chop the onion finely. Gently melt the butter in a heavy based pot and add the onion. Saute until onion is soft, around 5 minutes. Add the pumpkin, stock, milk, nutmeg and seasonings and slowly bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer carefully for 15 – 20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft. Remove from the stove and cool slightly. Use a stick blender and whizz up the soup until it is a creamy, thick texture.
Serve immediately. Swirl in a tablespoon of cream into each bowl. Grate some more nutmeg over if you wish. Top with your chosen garnish. Garlic bread is a great accompaniment.

[PogArtTi]

Great topic indeed
I'm trying my best to be an active as well
Currently working on city buses every day,and when I only have a free time, I'm sitting on my two arts

[Laurene]

Sorry for the misunderstanding Linda. The spoon I was talking about was the soup spoon, not the feeding spoon. My Mom would use it as a serving spoon when we were kids and the memories are purely nostalgic for me and my family. Funny how we connect with the smallest things sometimes. I love the recipe Linda!

[LindasPencils]

Sorry for the misunderstanding Linda. The spoon I was talking about was the soup spoon, not the feeding spoon. My Mom would use it as a serving spoon when we were kids and the memories are purely nostalgic for me and my family. Funny how we connect with the smallest things sometimes. I love the recipe Linda!

It is still and interesting story Laurene! Is it the same pattern? Many of my spoons are memory spoons as well - of no intrinsic value to anyone but me.

But here is another one - I found this spoon again in the local Op Shop.

Nemesia Spoon.jpg

Demitasse spoon – Rodd Australia, EPNS ‘A1’ Nemesia pattern
This spoon dates from 1950 - 1970 and is another Rodd favourite of the period. This design ‘Nemesia’ is an identical match to the original and very popular sterling pattern ‘Candlelight’ by Towle. Towle is one of the oldest and most revered silver makers in the USA. The Towle Company (now Lifetime Brands) is a direct descendent of Moulton, the first silver operation set up in New Hampshire in 1637. William Moulton II was the founder and his business thrived through five successive generations. Towle was an apprentice of William Moulton IV the sixth, the last Moulton and in 1857 he handed the business over to Towle. Since the 1880’s Towle has produce dozens of unique silverware patterns. Unmatched in quality and visually appealing they have been imitated by manufacturers around the world. ‘Candlelight’ with its dainty brocade carving down the length of the handle culminating in a flower shape debuted in 1934 to wild popularity. Rival companies were challenged to come up with imitations and Rodd of Melbourne produced this version in the 1950’s until the mid-1970’s. Rebranded ‘Nemesia’ after the popular bedding plant, it fast became one of the company’s best-selling cutlery designs.
The symbol ‘A1’ on silverware is a marking used to indicate the number of ounces of pure silver used in the plating process. Generally speaking, A1 indicated the thickest and best quality of silver plate.

[Mike Sibley]

It's not just that your drawings are both accurate and supremely studied - never a tiny detail unnoticed or omitted - but I love the quality. Even allowing for the paper to be whiter than it appears to be, there's a softness - a lack of harsh contrast - that invites easy entry and exploration.

Difficult to explain... so I'm giving up

[Laurene]

No, I really do get what you're saying Mike and I agree with you. There's a time and place to emphasize contrast and this wouldn't be that time. The stories with their sense of nostalgia and history invite a much softer approach.

I'm really enjoying these Linda! I get the same sense as when I see my grandfather's old hammer or my Mom's sewing shears. I can see someone's hand holding these spoons and carefully preparing or serving a meal to her family (no need to be politically correct here I think because, well, 50+ years ago it would very probably have been a she). It speaks to the nurturing side of us all.

[LindasPencils]

Another one from the collection:
Souvenir spoon – S.S. Orion, enamel with silver and gold plate. Unknown maker
The RMS Orion (later the S.S) is one of the most well-known ships on the Australian immigrant run from England during the 1950’s. It introduced a new standard in ocean travel, featuring air conditioning in all the public rooms!
My husband and his parents boarded the S.S. Orion migrant ship to Australia in 1956 as part of the Australian Assisted Passage program. Then only five, he has few memories of the voyage apart from isolated incidents. He has faint memories of raging up and down the decks, playing with the other migrant children, dress-up nights (he went as a beatnik), the small four berth/bunk bed cabin he shared with his parents and Neptune’s Crossing the Line Ceremony. One outstanding memory is the ship being turned back in Egypt due to the Suez Canal crisis that began on October 29, just a week after their departure from Tilbury Dock in London. The closure of the canal to passenger ships meant that the Orion had to sail around The Horn, extending the voyage by several weeks. While he enjoyed this extended stay on the ship, his parents were not too keen! His one souvenir of this trip is this Souvenir spoon that he has kept for all these years.
The postcard image used in this drawing is based on the original oil painting by Bernard W. Church that was used as an ‘Original Artist Impression’ postcard and sold in the gift shop of the S.S. Orion.

Aside: I used yellow watercolour pencil topped with gold metallic colour pencil on the lettering and gold of the enamel top. It was a pain.