Souvenir spoon: Cuba

c. 1899

Measurements

4-5/8 in x 7/8 in x 5/8 in

Materials

Gold-washed silver and enamel

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.1208

Inscription

“CUBA / 5 CENTAVOS” is in a blue and white postage stamp image on the handle.

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner

Comments

This unusual spoon displays a blue and white stamp in an oversized square frame at the tip of the handle.  The stamp identifies Cuba as the place the spoon celebrates.  The stamp went into production in 1899, during the period of U.S. military administration which began at the beginning of that year, following the Spanish-American War.  Administration was transferred to the Cuban republic in 1902.  The handle decoration of this spoon is the same on both sides.

The United States was the source of most fine silver and metalwork used in Cuba, suggesting that it was the origin of this spoon.

Bibliography

Accumulation & Display:  Mass Marketing Household Goods in America, 1880-1920 (The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1986), no. 178, pp. 135-136.