Lovespoons Wales

The Birth of a Lovespoon

Unlike now, the carver could not go to his local timber merchant, neither could he search the internet for that special piece of wood.  He would need to find a log, split it, and then leave it awhile to season and settle, and only then, months later, could he begin to carve it.

Before he could begin to carve, he would need to know the message he wished to convey.  He might add a double heart - we feel the same way, or it might be a single heart - my heart is yours.  A keyhole would mean my home is yours / the home we will share, where as a cross would mean faith.  If however he was really brave, balls in a cage would symbolise the number of children desired. With the ideas now in mind, carving could begin.

At the work bench of Lovespoons Wales, 50 - 60 chilsels are lined up ready for use.  17th century lovespoon carvers did not however have that luxury.  They may only be armed with a pocket knife and a sharpened piece of metal to scrape out the bowl of the spoon.

Slowly, the shape of the lovespoon would take shape.  Many hours would be spent with the knife preparing the gift of love.  Trying to rush the spoon could result in breakage and thus the need to start again.  If the intended recipient of the lovespoon was poplar, the delay in recarving could result in her being taken by someone else.

So what is a Lovespoon?  It is a gift of love - a love letter carved in wood.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Lovespoons. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.