Burial spoons
Two silver gilt spoons called burial spoons. They are 30 cm long and 7 cm wide and weigh 130 and 140 grams. They are almost twice as large as ordinary tablespoons because they would have been used to serve food.Well into the 1800s it was common for people of high status to give out burial spoons.
They were presented at funerals as souvenirs to certain guests and sometimes also to the people who helped at the event. The spoons have an engraved text meant to remind the recipient of the dead person. Both spoons bear a stamp from the City of Gothenburg and a hallmark from the Swedish state.On one spoon it says: “Mrs Director Catharina Christina Sahlgren. Née Grubb 22/3 1723. Died 3/4 1772.” On the other spoon it says: ”Mr August Alströmer born 1/8 1735, died 19/9 1773”.
GM:7867, GM:24277:a