Artwork
Spoon (cochlear)
DepartmentAncient Mediterranean Art
CultureRoman
Date1st-2nd century AD
MediumSilver
Dimensionslength: 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm)
weight: 0.5 oz. (13 grams)
weight: 0.5 oz. (13 grams)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection
Object number86.138.56
DescriptionA spoon (cochlear) with a pear-shaped bowl and a long handle tapering to a point.Label TextGroup label:
Spoons were the most common eating utensil at the Roman table, and the two types displayed here served distinct purposes. Spoons with small bowls and long pointed handles were called cochlearia, from the Latin word for snail, and were used to eat snails, shellfish, and eggs. Large spoons with pointed bowls, called ligulae, were used for soups, sauces, and other liquids.
Inscriptions on these spoons may record their owners’ names. Four of them have the letters IOV, perhaps the beginning of a Roman name, on the back of the bowl. Two others have the Greek name Antigonos on the handle.
(J. Powers, 2025)
Provenancesold, by American Colony Stores, New York, to Miriam Lutcher Stark (1859-1936), Orange, TX, 1928; by inheritance to her son, H. J. Lutcher Stark (1887-1965), Orange, TX, 1936; by bequest to the Nelda C. and H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, Orange, TX, 1965; sold by the Stark Foundation to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 1986Published ReferencesA. Walsh, "An Investigation of Roman Silver Plate in the San Antonio Museum of Art," (Trinity University Undergraduate Honors Thesis: 2010), 54-56, 79, pl. 56.On view
Collections
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
