Mid-nineteenth-century American silver often integrates specific elements and motifs into its design that allude to the utensil's function. The Gorham nut spoon represents an early instance of this vogue, and one with undeniable charm. A deceptively complex object, its gilded, pierced, canopied bowl is further enhanced by the imaginative transformation of its intricately cast handle into a wooden branch, complete with foliate sprigs and perched squirrel poised to crack open a nut.

Technical notes: The handle is completely in the round and terminates in an ogi val arch where it joins the bowl. The Gorham records identify this server as “nut spoon 113" and first document it on October 30, 1869. The net factory price was $21.85, an immense sum at the time that translates as ten working hours, comparable to the fabrication of a pitcher or a bowl.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.