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Object Timeline
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Large Two Tined Serving Fork with Brass Handle Fork
This is a fork. It is dated late 17th century and we acquired it in 1985. Its medium is steel, brass. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
text from the historical overview in "Feeding Desire":
The table fork, which was used in the main courses, first appeared as a stabilizer to hold meat while cutting, and later to convey meats to the mouth (fig. 26). The number of tines reflected the fork's uses - two tines being more appropriate for stabilizing and some serving (the early forks usually had two flat, or just slightly concave, tines). The more numerous the tines, the more foods could be held on the fork and brought to the mouth. Generally, the three-tined table fork became more common in the early eighteenth century, and three or four tines became the norm in the second half of the century. However, there are earlier examples of both, and there are three-tine forks from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. (Fig. 27).
This object was
donated by
Eleanor L. Metzenberg.
It is credited The Robert L. Metzenberg Collection, gift of Eleanor L. Metzenberg.
Its dimensions are
L x W x D: 28.4 × 2.8 × 1.7 cm (11 3/16 × 1 1/8 × 11/16 in.)
It has the following markings
Unmarked
Cite this object as
Large Two Tined Serving Fork with Brass Handle Fork; probably Northern Germany; steel, brass; L x W x D: 28.4 × 2.8 × 1.7 cm (11 3/16 × 1 1/8 × 11/16 in.); The Robert L. Metzenberg Collection, gift of Eleanor L. Metzenberg; 1985-103-16
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005.
