Coffee Spoon 1792 - 1798

This is a coffee spoon by David Vinton, a silversmith active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Vinton’s spoon is a modest artifact from a period marked by revolutionary change and the establishment of new social hierarchies. At the time Vinton was working, coffee and the rituals surrounding its consumption were deeply embedded in social and economic practices. Yet, we must not forget that for many, coffee production was synonymous with the brutal realities of slavery in the Americas. The simple spoon in front of us is therefore imbued with complex histories of labor, trade, and social exchange. Consider, too, that objects such as this spoon, circulated within a society undergoing rapid transformation, reflecting and shaping emerging class structures. They offer an intimate glimpse into the everyday lives of those who could afford them and, by extension, the vast networks of labor and exploitation that sustained such privilege.