This post is dedicated to Ronnie Elgavish and his collection of spoons! Ronnie lives in Tel Aviv, Israel, and we've been friends for over a year now. He first contacted me about Martha Stewart's ventures in Israel (she once published a Hebrew editon of Living) and from there we recognized how many similarities and interests we shared: architecture, design, photography, travel, and many others. Another shared interest is collecting. I have a mild obsession with antique and unique tea cups (and a growing collection, although I am really selective) and Ronnie's fascination is with spoons. He has over 500 spoons in his collection! Each one is measured, numbered, named and photographed and then cataloged for reference. (I love his devotion!) Below are some examples from Ronnie's collection and his description of how his love of spoons developed. I hope his story and his photographs inspire you to start your own collection!
"Back when I was in Architecture school, one of my teachers said that one knows a certain design is good if he is willing to steal it in order to make it his own. A few years later while sitting in a coffee shop in New york, I was reminded of this when a coffee cup was served to me with a spoon I just couldn't live without. I looked at the spoon, which was elaborate and full of details, and realized that so many variations exist to such a small and basic tool that we use every day. And at that moment I decided to start the collection.
"Every spoon brings with it the story of its origin: the family or its geographical source, which makes it worth collecting. Wherever I travel, I bring spoons back with me. Today the collection consists of more than 500 spoons, some were purchased by me, others were given to me by friends, family and even people who found the collection online and wanted to take part in it. Throughout the past 5 years I found how sentimental this collection is, to the extent that every person relates to it immediately. I especially like those spoons with family stories, and some in the collection are a missing piece of a whole set that crossed generations in heritage. One of them dates back to the 18th century in Italy."
"Every spoon brings with it the story of its origin: the family or its geographical source, which makes it worth collecting. Wherever I travel, I bring spoons back with me. Today the collection consists of more than 500 spoons, some were purchased by me, others were given to me by friends, family and even people who found the collection online and wanted to take part in it. Throughout the past 5 years I found how sentimental this collection is, to the extent that every person relates to it immediately. I especially like those spoons with family stories, and some in the collection are a missing piece of a whole set that crossed generations in heritage. One of them dates back to the 18th century in Italy."
If you have questions about the origins, dates or measurements of the any of the specific spoons shown above, click here for details. To contribute a spoon to his collection please contact Ronnie.
OTHER TALENTED MARTHA MOMENTS READERS:
Lots more to come!
Beautiful collection of spoons! very interesting how Ronnie has description for each piece, so devoted.
ReplyDeleteThank you Andrew for including me on your list, I treasure your post.
Best Wishes
Rowaida
his collection started with the coffee shop spoon hmm literally ??did he remove the spoon from the coffee shop??? on another note, A. what is the earliest copy of Martha's mag in your possession? my first issue is the holiday dec Jan which features MS on the cover at the foot of a Christmas tree inspecting a piece of organza ribbon it was published ony four times a year back then
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that was Ronnie's subtle way of saying he took the spoon! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy first issue is November/December 1991: Martha on the cover in plaid holding a basket standing in front of a wreath. The one you are describing is 1993.
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have sets of some of those spoons!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful collection. I'm always fascinated by how people begin their collections - and then how those collections grow over the years.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness!! I wonder if he'd be willing to share/show his spoon collection to the public. I run a little magazine called Spoonful (http://www.spoonfulzine.bigcartel.com/) and I collect spoons too! I'd love to be inspired by his collection (plus I'm in tel aviv in sptember so that worked out luckily somehow :) hehe
ReplyDeletethea.
xx
You should definitely contact him, Thea! I'm sure he'd be thrilled!
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