18 JANUARY 1952, Page 13

The Broth Spoon

A friend, returning from a visit to relatives in Glamorgan, has brought me a broth spoon, a large spoon like a lard ladle, carved from a sycamore block. Forty or fifty years ago the carving of spoons was a regular pastime, and farm kitchens in that part of the world would be equipped with them in all sizes from an ordinary soup spoon upwards. After completing the work of hollowing and polishing the spoon, the man who made it would boil it over and over again to improve the colour of the wood. Mine will not be used for leek 4 broth. It hangs on. the wall as a curio.