Haddock, Lincoln, & Foss
Macaroni Knife

Public Domain

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Maker Haddock, Lincoln, & Foss(American, c. 1857–1865)American, c. 1857–1865

CultureAmerican

Titles

Macaroni Knife
from the "Olive" pattern

Datec. 1857–1865

Made inBoston, Massachusetts, United States

MediumSilver

Dimensions1 5/16 × 10 1/8 × 2 15/16 in. (3.3 × 25.7 × 7.5 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Louis Skidmore, Jr. in memory of Margaret C. Skidmore, and in honor of Michael K. Brown at "One Great Night in November, 2011"

Object numberB.2011.30

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Metals Study Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

METALWORK

DescriptionMacaroni was unheard of on American tables until the final decades of the 18th century. Lord Dunmore, royal governor of the Virginia colony, imported fifty pounds of pasta from England in 1772. Thomas Jefferson served this exotic food at a White House dinner in 1803. By the 1840s, as pasta became more widely available, a uniquely American utensil designed specifically for serving macaroni was introduced. The proliferation of specialized flatware forms is a striking phenomenon in American silver during the second half of the 19th century. As the century progressed, some American manufacturers’ dinner services became so extensive that they comprised more than one hundred different serving and place pieces. Haddock, Lincoln, & Foss of Boston made this macaroni knife in the “Olive” pattern.
Provenance Research Ongoing Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Engraved on handle: LJE

Marked on back: PATENT / JULY.1.1856

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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