Holt Antiques at East Raynham
A Late 17th Century Diminutive Painted Treen Spoon Rack (Lepelrek), Low Countries, circa 1670–1700
A Late 17th Century Diminutive Painted Treen Spoon Rack (Lepelrek), Low Countries, circa 1670–1700
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This charming, unusually small hanging spoon rack, or lepelrek, is made of hardwood and retains its original red-brown paint. Racks of this kind were a fixture of the Dutch and Flemish kitchen, where a household's spoons were proudly displayed rather than hidden away. Few survive from so early a date, and fewer still at this diminutive scale.
The shaped backboard is crowned by a projecting gabled hood, which shelters the rack in the manner of a little house front, a motif in keeping with the stepped and gabled architecture of the Low Countries. Below, two narrow shelves are each cut with slots to hold three spoons with their bowls displayed uppermost, as was the custom. The side edges are carved with nulling, the repeated gadrooned ornament so characteristic of 17th-century carved work, which points firmly to that century rather than the next. The lower edge is shaped to a pendant.
The paint has worn to a soft, dry, deeply mellowed surface with the warm ground showing through. Small in scale and full of character, the rack is equally at home on a dresser end, beside a range, or hung within a collection of early pewter and treen.
Provenance: Low Countries, late 17th century, circa 1670–1700.
Material: Oak.
Condition: Wear and some loss of the original paint, consistent with age. Minor losses and chips to the edges, the hood, and the shaped lower edge. Age-related shrinkage, but the rack is sound and ready to hang. The pewter spoons are shown for display only and are not included.
Dimensions: Height 15¾ in (40 cm); Width 7⅞ in (20 cm); Depth 1¼ in (3 cm)
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