Hollow, handled kitchen
utensils resembling the palm of a hand, used to carry liquid or grainy
food to the mouth or from one pot to another are called "spoons".
The spoons which are
generally 20-25 cm. long are formed by three parts as the mouth, the neck
and the handle. The spoons may be single or multipieced with different
materials used for the mouth piece and the handle. The name "Kamıç"
(spoon) mentioned on the Orhon tablets has become "Kaşık"
in our language after transformations as Kamıç, Kuşak, Kaşık.
The bark of trees is called "Kasuk" and the mouthpiece of the
spoon is called "spoon ladle" in Ottoman.
Tortoise shell spoons
with ivory, amber and coral handles.
The Ottomans in the 15th century used to eat a very light meal at lunch in their working places, but had heavy meals in the morning and supper. Before supper where the whole family gathered, the "spoon lapping prayer" was recited. The term "spoon lapping" has been carried on to the present day meaning "supper time" in some regions such as Kastamonu, Akseki (Antalya), Tarsus (İçel), Bursa and Zincidere (Kayseri). Wooden spoon making was largely developed in Tokat, Kastamonu and Konya during the Ottoman period. The spoon makers in Istanbul used to make valuable spoons (made of horn, tortoise shell, mother-of-pearl, coral, gold and silver) for the Ottoman elite.
There were spoon shops long ago at the locality called the "Spoon Makers Gate" on the road extending from the Closed Bazaar to the Beyazıt square. Those spoon makers made table spoons of boxwood, and smaller spoons for sweets and compotes which were made of coco, ebony, rhinoceros and buffalo horns, tortoise shell, buffalo hoof with coral and mother-of-pearl handles.
When later metalware was imported, our people began to use those and their interest in the national products gradually decreased. But since it was not considered proper to use metal spoons, knives and forks during the Fasting month, the wealthy who were accustomed to the new metalware used ivory, shell and mother-of-pearl spoons with coral handles or wooden spoons with embellishments or plain finishing in order not to be critized by the ordinary people. Those spoons were placed on the table beside the bread loaves and buns.
The compotes which were traditionally served at the end of supper in crystal bowls were placed on cast copper trays and boxwood, shell or ivory sweet spoons were placed by the side of the bowls.
The mouthpieces of the spoons had different shapes varying as to the usage purpose and the place of production, and their handles were made of different materials in accordance with the taste of the users. The spoons were usually made of either metals such as gold, silver, copper, brass or bones, horns, shells and wood. The handles of the Ottoman spoons were embellished with bird motifs, geometric designs and inscriptions. The handles of gold and silver spoons made especially in Istanbul were decorated with niello, nails, inlaying, chisel work, engraving and filigree. Some handles were decorated with corals or mother-of-pearl and they had tassels made of pearls. Therefore to unite craft and art with aesthetic approach was considered a great efficiency and was praised with the saying "Anyone can make a spoon but everybody cannot succeed in meeting the handle and the mouthpiece just in the middle."
The decorations were not formerly stamped on the spoons, but were drawn by hand. The old wooden spoons were decorated with beautiful Seljuk motifs, Ottoman monograms and coat of arms, meaningful inscriptions in "rik'a" and "nesih" style calligraphy. Some used to have their own names written on their spoons and some had the name of an eminent person or of a beloved on the spoon. The name "Afife" is written on a spoon which is in the Topkapı Palace Museum. It is supposed that Mehmet IV. used to eat with this spoon which bore the name of his favourite for whom the sultan used to write poems. It was customary to give spoons bearing couplets as gifts when one was going away. For example the inscription "You're Worthy to meet, yours is all my life" was written on a spoon presented to the lady by the name of Şayan (Worthy). It is rumoured that this spoon was given as a gift to his beloved by crown prince Murat Efendi before his voyage to Europe with Sultan Abdulaziz. There were also couplets inscribed on spoon handles such as: "Spreading rumour is not nice/You better spoon your rice", "What a bad luck I have, spoiled are all my deeds/The trap put for the nightingale, is the spot the raven meets", "Good or bad for me is all done by me, Should I teach to hold my tongue to me".
Of
the Ottoman sultans Mehmet III. whose hobby was to repair clocks, to make
prayer beads and canes, and Ahmet I. also made spoons. There were embellished
and plain spoons, sherbet spoons, pudding spoons, and spoons made of buffalo
horn, crystal, mother-of-pearl, agate, rock crystal, ivory, tortoise shell,
horns, ebony, swan's beak and Frank style spoons in the Imperial Treasury.
In the precious collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum, there is
a spoon with solid gold handle and mouthpiece, which has diamonds on the
silver inlaying of the handle; a solid gold spoon with a braided handle
decorated at the tip with leaves and flowers and bearing diamonds on the
handle and the flowers; a spoon the mouthpiece of which is carved from
white stone, with a gold handle embellished by a row of rubies and a diamond
crowned flower at the tip; a mother-of-pearl spoon with an ivory handle
the tip of which is decorated with coral and turquoise bordered and pearl
centred four diamond-shaped gold plaques.
Various Kinds and Characteristics of Spoons
In olden days the spoons were classified as follows depending upon the material they were made of:
Wooden spoons: The ethnographical collections prove that the first spoons were made of wood. For example the Kırghız Turks called the coloured and glazed spoons "sır", the spoons that were home made were called "Çapma" and the wooden spoon makers were named "kırmacı". According to the etymological dictionary, spoons were called as "çömçe, delikız, yaba" in Anatolia, whereas in the register of the Topkapı Palace, spoons are mentioned as the spoons made of coco, white boxwood, Trabzon boxwood, mastic bark, cornel bark, juniper bark, and ebony.
Spoons made of Bones and Horns: Although only the term "horns used in spoon making" is mentioned, in Kashgharian Mahmut's 11th century anthology "spoons made of ox, rhinoceros and buffalo horns, buffalo hoof, bones, tortoise shell, ivory, mother-of-pearl, coral and swan beak" are recorded in the Topkapı Palace register.
Metal Spoons: The Kirghiz Turks called metal spoons "tin spoons". Nevertheless, "gold, silver, copper, brass, crystal, agate, rock crystal, jade spoons" are mentioned in the Topkapı Palace register.
In the register the spoons are also classified according to the production method as follows: "Single piece, folding, pieced, unpierced, mallet, jointed, carved jointed, twisted, enamel jointed, embellished, plain, decorated with pearls, rubies, diamonds, enamel, tasselled, Persian style, decorated with mother-of-pearl, Frank style".
There are also silver teaspoons, spoons the mouthpieces of which are made of old coins and the handles are filigree. The Turkish spoons of various size and shape are named according to their place of usage and the kind of food as follows: Spoons for soup, rice, food, compote, sweets, pudding, coffee and tea, baby food, olives, fried meat preserves, table sets and decorative spoons. In addition to these there are folding spoons which can be carried in pockets during travels.
Spoons for Soups: Its mouth piece resembles the half of an egg sliced length wise. The handle is attached at the middle of the broad edge. The inner part of the mouthpiece is more or less tapering. There are two salients on both sides of the joining point of the handle and the mouthpiece which are called "ears". The handle is broad and straight. The mouthpiece is medium hollow. The length of this kind of spoon is 18-20 cm.
Spoons for Rice: Although the mouthpiece is not so tapering as the soup spoons, they resemble by the hollowness of the mouthpiece and the straightness of the handle. These spoons do not have "ears".
Spoons for Food: The hollowness at the tip and the center are almost equal and they are not so hollow as the soup spoons. Their handles resemble the handles of the rice spoons. They are usually made of single piece boxwood.
Spoons for Compote: They resemble hemispheres. They have thin, round handles made of tortoise shells. Their sizes differ. Damat İbrahim Pasha's coral handled spoons were famous at his time. The compote spoons presented as a gift to Louis XIV through Çelebi Mehmet Efendi were also very precious.
Spoons for Sweets: They are smaller in comparison to other spoons. Their mouthpieces are made of boxwood, bones or silver and their handles are of valuable materials such as ivory and mother-of-pearl.
Spoons for Puddings: These are medium sized, triangular spoons the handles and mouthpieces of which are made of the same material such as bones, wood, ivory or various metals.
Spoons for Icecream: These metal or plastic spoons resemble straight edged, small shovels. Their length is 13-15 cm.
Coffee and Teaspoons: These small sized boxwood or metal spoons are used either as measuring units for coffee, tea and sugar or to mix the sugar in the coffee or tea.
Source : Antika,
The Turkish Journal of Collectable Art, October 1985, Issue 7
By: Hüsnü Züber
Information
provided by:
http://www.mfa.gov.tr/grupc/cj/cja/spoons.htm