Note 42: — X.—HOUSE AND FURNITURE. (Wall-Cases 25-40.)

In antiquity knives and forks were little used at table, fingers being mainly employed. Only one three-pronged fork (No. 331) is here shown. Spoons, however, were common, and a considerable number of ancient spoons (No. 332) are exhibited in Case 36. The series of large ivory spoons with elaborately ornamented handles belong to an early period, a similar one coming from the Polledrara tomb at Vulci in Etruria, of the seventh century B.C. The small spoons in bronze or ivory, with round head and handle running to a point, were probably used for the eating of eggs and the extraction of snails from their shells. Snails were a favourite dish with the Romans, and the spoon got its name (cochleare) from being employed in this way.42