Today, we do not give a lot of thought to ships and boats unless that is our hobby. But in yesteryear, sailing ships were of great importance. Not only were they the only practical method of reaching distant shores, but they were also essential for transporting goods from various foreign ports.
These first pictures are sailing ships found on large Dutch Servers and specialty servers. More information about these spoons can be found at the Large Dutch Server Page.
Two different variations on a theme Dolphins on Bon Bon spoon
This generic spoon shows a yacht at the finial with a sailing theme in the bowl as well as other nautical items. It was probably designed to be sold as a gift for someone whose hobby was yachting or to be used as a trophy as there is no identifying information.
Sailboat racing was a popular sport among the super rich in the 1890's and there was intense competition between the USA and Great Britain. Much of this activity centered around the America's Cup race.
In 1893, an unprecedented effort was made by the USA. Four different designs were created using the best technology then available. One of these was the sloop Colonia which had a conservative style keel and was designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff, one of the leading boat designers of the era. Colonia and her sister ship Vigilent were designed to be the America's cup defenders against the Prince of Wales ship "Britannia".
These two spoons were to honor Colonia (embossed on stem). Note both are the same size, and are sterling (I don't know why there was a color shift in the scanning). The finial is a trophy resting upon twin intertwined dolphins. Both spoons were designed by K& S Co. and patented 4/17/94.
Although Colonia wasn't quite as fast as the Vigilent , it still had an illustrious history in sailboat racing. It was also one of the leading boats in the 1906 Columbia Yacht Club Regatta (6/16/06)
We find spoons from major shipping ports and locations where ships were made. This is only logical and to be expected because travelers would often visit these sites.
Duluth, Minnesota
Launch Scene, Newport News, Virginia. This shipbuilding company is one of the few remaining ones in the USA. It now specializes in military ships.
Hoosier Slide, Michigan City, Indiana
Two different engraved spoons of the same South Haven, Michigan view
Different handles and different engravers. The pictures are not as sharp as I would like, but you can see the quality differences in the engraving workmanship.
Queen of Vancouver
Queen
of Saanich
Note: both of these "queen" spoons are the same except for the ship name.
S.S. Princess Victoria
"Fastest passenger steamer on the Pacific"
Vancouver B.C.
back engraved "Jean '06"
LaChine Rapids--citrus bowl