The tradition of the love spoon has several different origins, from Norway to Wales, and has endured through generations of skilled traditional craftsmen.
The traditional spoons were even popularised in an issue of Popular Science, and whilst the project they suggest involves glueing pieces together (which is not part of traditional woodcraft), it did bring a lot of international attention to what had been somewhat more regional crafts.
However, whilst many like to ask questions about the range of traditional symbols you see on a Welsh spoon, such as bells and horseshoes, few people ask about the symbolism of the spoon itself, which represents and signifies as much as the symbols themselves do.
The spoon is a symbol of sustenance and support and has been used not only in idioms such as the silver spoon someone who never wants for anything would have, but also in the Spoon Theory, a powerful allegory for people suffering from chronic illnesses, particularly fatigue-related ones.
The wooden spoon was a practical craft, and one of the first objects many young men learned to carve, as a spoon was needed to keep them fed and sustained.
A love spoon, therefore, was symbolic of how the carver of the spoon loved the recipient so much they wanted to provide her with everything she needed to survive and thrive.
Some love spoon designs feature two spoons chained or linked together, which symbolises how each person depends on the other, as well as a wish that the two be together forever.
