Souvenir spoon: University of Wisconsin
Attleboro, Masschusetts
1899-1905
Maker
Charles M. Robbins (est. 1892)
Measurements
5-3/4 in x 1-1/4 in x 1/2 in
Materials
Silver
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1098
Inscription
“MAIN HALL / UNIVERSITY OF WIS.” is in the bowl. “HORACE” and “ALMA / MATER” are on the handle.
“CMR / STERLING” is one the back of the handle.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
The spoon celebrates the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The building pictured in the bowl and identified as “Main Hall” known since 1920 as Bascom Hall. It was complete in 1859. Changes to the original building date the image in the spoon after 1898, when the dome was changed and construction of the first of two wings began. The second (not shown in this view) was completed in 1905.
The handle shows a student above a book with "HORACE" across it, and alma mater below. The back of the handle shows a four-man crew shell, bat and ball, tennis racket, football, and oars.
Bibliography
Accumulation & Display: Mass Marketing Household Goods in America, 1880-1920 (The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1986), no. 160, p. 129.
