Teaspoons. A teaspoon is a small spoon suitable for stirring and sipping the contents of a cup of tea or coffee, or adding a portion of loose sugar to it. These spoons have heads more or less oval in shape. Teaspoons are a common part of a place setting.
Teaspoons with longer handles, such as iced tea spoons, are commonly used also for ice cream desserts or floats. Similar spoons include the tablespoon and the dessert spoon, the latter intermediate in size between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, used in eating dessert and sometimes soup or cereals. Much less common is the coffee spoon, which is a smaller version of the teaspoon, intended for use with the small type of coffee cup. Another teaspoon, called an orange spoon (in American English: grapefruit spoon), tapers to a sharp point or teeth, and is used to separate citrus fruits from their membranes. A bar spoon, equivalent to a teaspoon, is used in measuring ingredients for mixed drinks.
A container designed to hold extra teaspoons, called a spooner, usually in a set with a covered sugar container, formed a part of Victorian table service.
The teaspoon is first mentioned in an advertisement in a 1686 edition of the London Gazette. Reference: Wikipedia
Forres; A silver teaspoon by James & Patrick Riach; three marks; tower, IPR, tower, 1817-41 Of fiddle pattern, engraved with foliate initials ‘JR’, length 14.5cm, weight 0.5oz.
Sold for £ 1,250 inc. premium at Bonhams in 2015
Silver ‘Padova’ teaspoon with handle curved at the end to form an open oval. elsa peretti® collection by tiffany & co.® © The Trustees of the British Museum
A SET OF TWELVE BERMUDA SILVER TEASPOONS MARK OF JOSEPH GWYNN, BERMUDA, CIRCA 1805 Each engraved JEPH, each marked on handle 5 ¼ in. (13.3 cm.) long; 5 oz. (158 gr.)
Sold for USD 4,750 at Christies in 2017
Cased French Silver Spoons and Tea Strainer
French, 20th century, handles with scroll, foliage and shell decorations, including twelve 5 in. teaspoons and 6-3/8 in. tea strainer, maker possibly Gregoire & Cordonnier, 4.92 oz. T.; in fitted pasteboard case with gilt monogram
Sold for $100 at Brunk Auctions in 2019
A set of six George III silver-gilt teaspoons and a pair of sugar tongs, one spoon stamped ‘SH’, otherwise unmarked, circa 1820 the bowls cast as stylised leaves, the stems cast as branches embellished with further leaves, flowers and insects, the tongs similarly cast tongs 12.5cm., 4 7/8 in. long 148gr., 4oz. 14dwt.
Sold for 1,250 GBP at Sothebys in 2017
