Souvenir spoon: Rome
Italy
1890-1910
Measurements
5-1/4 in x 1 in x 5/8 in
Materials
Gold-washed silver and enamels
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1105
Inscription
“ROMA / S·P·Q·R” is ine bowl.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
Romulus and Remus, the legendary twin brothers who founded Rome in 753 BCE, are shown suckling the she-wolf that saved them. The pose reproduces a 5th century BCE bronze sculpture in Rome known as the Capitoline Wolf.
“S·P·Q·R” stands for “Senatus Populus Que Romanus” ("The Senate and the Roman People").
A finely executed mosaic showing St. Peter’s Basilica with the Egyptian obelisk in the center of the plaza decorates the face of the handle tip. The back of the handle is decorated with rings and beads.
Bibliography
Accumulation & Display: Mass Marketing Household Goods in America, 1880-1920 (The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1986), no. 182, p. 137.
