Bamboo serving fork

MAKER:: Manufacturer
Gorham Manufacturing Company ( American, 1831 )
DATE:: c. 1882

General Description

Constructed with precious metals—silver and gold—this serving fork, and its matching spoon (1989.4.2.McD), instead appears to be made from bamboo and oyster shells fastened with twine, suggesting primitive or amateur craftsmanship. In the final decades of the 19th century, Gorham Manufacturing Company and its competitors produced numerous lines of silver hollowware and flatware in the shape of grass, leaves, shells, and other organic forms, which satisfied the period obsession with nature.

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