Precious tableware of Old Rus
Cutlery

Spoons. Novgorod, the 1670s. Belonged to Patriarch Pitirim
Spoon. Russia, Moscow, the Moscow Kremlin workshops, 1664. Donated by the boyarynia (boyar"s wife) A. Morozova to the Chudov Monastery of the Moscow Kremlin
Spoon. Russia, Moscow, the Moscow Kremlin workshops, second half of the XVIIth century. Belonged to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich
Fork. Russia, Solvychegodsk, the 1690s
Fork. Russia, the XVIIth century
Fork. Vyatka, the late XVIIth century
Knife. Solvychegodsk, the late XVIIth century
Knife. Solvychegodsk, the 1690s
Knife. Solvychegodsk, the 1690s. Makers the Popovs brothers

Serving items of Old Rus included spoons, two-pronged forks and knives. Cutlery at the court was executed of precious materials; ordinary people used wooden utensils. Prior to the late XVIIth century, knives and forks were hard-to-get goods, given only to privileged guests on special occasions. Precious items served as kitchen utensils as well as table decorations. During the XVIth-XVIIth centuries handles of serving items were executed in various forms and decorated with gilding, carving, inscriptions, precious stones and enamels.

Cutlery stand with a removable lid. Solvychegodsk, before 1696
Cutlery stand with a removable lid. Russia, the XVIIth century

In Old Rus forks and knives were kept in a cutlery-stand, shaped as a beaker, with round perforations inside and removable cover. They were executed of wood and bound with sheets of silver, decorated with ornamental pattern.