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Object Timeline
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1985 |
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2025 |
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Fork (possibly Germany)
This is a fork. It is dated ca. 1670 and we acquired it in 1985. Its medium is steel, enamel, silver. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
text from "Implements of eating" in Feeding Desire exhibition catalogue:
" Shared utensils meant shared germs; individual sets of cutlery and greater physical space between diners minimized the risk of contagion. In place of the medieval shared trencher, a separate plate was set before each diner, initially with only a spoon and knife, but eventually with a fork as well. Once the fork was adopted, hands no longer reached into the common serving bowl. The use of the fork was encouraged by a series of etiquette manuals, most famously Erasmus's 1530 De Civilitate Morum Peurilium, which equated good manners with virutous behavior. Thus the fork became a physical manifestation of a new code of politeness (figs. 8,9)."
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: 14.8 x 1.4 cm (5 13/16 x 9/16 in.)
Cite this object as
Fork (possibly Germany); steel, enamel, silver; L x W: 14.8 x 1.4 cm (5 13/16 x 9/16 in.); The Robert L. Metzenberg Collection, gift of Eleanor L. Metzenberg; 1985-103-67
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table, 1500-2005.
