Souvenir spoon: Heidelberg, Germany

c. 1894

Measurements

L: 4.75 in

Materials

Silver

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.1047

Inscription

“Heidelberg” is engraved in script inside the bowl; “DCW / 1894” is engraved onto the underside of the bowl.

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner.  She likely had the underside of the bowl engraved with the initials of her eldest son, Daniel Corbit Warner (1878-1895).

Comments

The cast spoon has a large portrait bust showing the left side of a bearded man, possibly Frederick III (1831-1888), German Emperor and King of Prussia in 1888.  He died of cancer while in office.  Heidelberg has long been a popular tourist destination.  The spoon handle is very slender, a characteristic shared by other European souvenir spoons.

This spoon bears the engraved initials of Mary Warner's eldest son, Daniel Corbit Warner (1878-1895), who would have 16 in 1894, the date that appears underneath the initials.  No evidence uncovered to date indicates the circumstances surrounding the addition of the initials and date.