Sterling Silver Sugar Sifting Spoon Fancy Shell USA

The Victorians were famous for coming up with fun things for the table. And everything they came up with were practical as well as finely wrought and decorated to within an inch of it's life!

I am fascinated by Victorian gadgets, and especially those that relate to the taking of tea. Sugar sifting spoons were originally design for use when sugar came in large cones and had to be broken into smaller pieces. Sugar bowls or sucriers were quite a bit larger than the sugar basins or sugar bowls of today because the lumps were truly that...lumps like coal or coke. The sugar was then crushed with a sugar tamper (another story) and then the sugar sifting spoon came into play.  Muffins, crumpets or pikelets (sort of our English muffins) and pancakes were a teatime favorite with butter, honey, jam or syrup and the sugar was sifted onto the muffins or crumpets. Sifting spoons were necessary to get a good sprinkle going from obviously un uniform sugar. And they were usually beautifully designed.

Sugar sifting spoons came in sterling silver and silver plate and were a normal part of a Victorian set of table flatware. They are very difficult to find nowadays.  Above is pictured an example currently available at Antiques And Teacups. Lovely...a spoonful of sugar will be sure to make the medicine (or crumpet) go down in a most delightful way with this!

For more photos and info, go to: Sterling Silver Sugar Sifting Spoon Fancy Shell USA