When I first fell for Joshua Vogel's hand-carved spoons, a friend said, "But you can't actually use them." I dismissed this with a breezy, "Of course I can." Since then, I've bought three from the collection, and guess what? I don't use them for cooking; instead they hang on my wall as art. And I couldn't be happier.
The spoons are meant for utilitarian purpose, but for me, they double as just the sort of art I want on my wall. We've noticed the influx of wooden spoons before, but worshipping the new art objects has left us wondering how to display them when they're not in use.
Above: Dunja Von Stoddard arranged a tableau of wooden spoons in her kitchen; see more at Hudson Valley Hues: At Home with an Inventive Textile Designer.
Above: Toronto-based blogger Margaret Oomen designed a chalkboard pegboard to display the variety of wooden spoons she owns in her kitchen; noticed over at Dwell Magazine.
Above: Brooklyn-based woodworker Ariele Alasko hangs a hand-carved, sanded, and beeswax-finished Walnut Hanging Spoon in her studio; contact Alasko for ordering information. And see her workplace at A Sculptor Turned Furniture Maker in Brooklyn.
Above: On display in Spitalfields (sitting in the window carving for eight-hour stretches) is spoon carver Barnaby Carder, who made this custom rack to display his wares. For more, see our post A Spoon Carver in Spitalfields.
Above: A trio of objects hand carved by Joshua Vogel at Blackcreek Mercantile. The individual pieces (a Turkish-style flatbread tool and two spoons from the 365 collection) present a variety of unexpected forms; available at March in San Francisco. For more, see our recent post Required Reading: The Artful Wooden Spoon by Joshua Vogel.
Above: Six spoons arranged by size in the Balcombe house in West Sussex from Shoot Factory.
Above: Spoons hang from heavy thread in the home of artist June Schwarcz's home in Sausalito visited by Catherine Bailey of Heath Ceramics via AT.
Above: Sets of wooden spoons hang in geometric patterns on the wall at Persephone Bakery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, photographed by Blair Friedeman of Delight by Design.
Above: When searching for soulful kitchen items, one cannot pass up stylist Nikole Harriot's Harriot Grace, her online shop stocking items such as her hand-carved spoons shown here.
If wood is not your preferred medium, see all our Tableware items, ranging from enamel to ceramic in our Shop section.
N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on August 20, 2013, as part of our issue The Summer Kitchen.
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