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Mote Tongs?

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Author	Topic: Mote Tongs?
agphile Posts: 798 Registered: Apr 2008	posted 11-02-2016 01:17 PM Somewhere around the beginning of the 18th century there was a bit of an experiment with a combined tool for the tea table, a pair of sugar tongs and a mote spoon in one. It didn’t catch on so surviving examples are relatively rare. They can therefore command silly prices. The other day I was doing an internet search related to silver spoons. It led me to a lot in a provincial auction. The lot comprised a Victorian salt spoon of no special interest and three pairs of sugar tongs. There was a fuzzy photograph and very little description – nothing about marks or condition – and I hadn’t been looking for tongs. However, the middle pair looked familiar and possibly interesting. I decided to risk an absentee bid despite not having had a chance to see or handle the items. Well, my bid was successful. When the items arrived I found that I had acquired a beaded edge salt spoon of 1890 that my wife decided was sweet and took into her possession; a pair of sprung sugar tongs, also 1890, that matched our dining room silver (this had not been apparent in the photo) so has gone into our flatware and cutlery drawer; a pair of bright cut sugar tongs of 1795 with noticeable damage to one bowl and therefore an addition to the pile of items awaiting disposal when I get round to it; and finally a pair of combined tongs-cum-mote spoon. The tongs have pierced bowls that can be used like the bowl of a mote spoon. There is a central spike that screws out and can be used like the pointed stem of a mote spoon. There are no marks, which is not unusual on this sort of small article, but I would think it dates to somewhere around 1700-1720. And I am not surprised the design didn’t catch on. It must have been a bit fiddly and irritating to use. However, I am delighted to have an example. All the pieces together cost me significantly less than I would normally expect to have to pay just for a pair of tongs of this period, let alone a pair with mote spoon adaptations. Usually when I spot something of potential interest at an auction I find others spot it too and either outbid me or force me to pay more than the bargain price I had hoped for. It is a pleasant feeling to have got a bargain for once. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 Registered: Apr 93	posted 11-02-2016 02:32 PM It reminds me of one of our "whatzits". I'm not saying right away just in case someone might want to guess. IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2377 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 11-03-2016 12:39 AM Great find. I suppose that sometimes combinations can get to cumbersome to be useful. The normal mote spoon is a little like a pencil and an eraser combination and these combinations were very popular. While two functions are easy to deal with, adding a third may be just too much. Scott the tongs in your example look a little like individual asparagus tongs, but I don't know what the pick would be used for. IP: Logged
asheland Posts: 935 Registered: Nov 2003	posted 11-03-2016 09:19 AM Those are interesting! Well done! It's fun to find deals once in a while. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 Registered: Apr 93	posted 11-03-2016 09:24 AM Not asparagus tongs. IP: Logged
agphile Posts: 798 Registered: Apr 2008	posted 11-04-2016 05:18 AM Scott I think I remember your thingies and I think I remember them being described as lemon squeezers. However, I cannot remember whether that was the right answer. If it is, my apologies for jumping in, but I do not understand why the spikes to hold the piece of lemon need to be so long. AHWT Your pencil and eraser comparison seems spot on. With both pencil and mote spoon it is simply a matter of using one end or the other. These tongs need to be disassembled and reassembled each time they are used. Asheland Thanks. I fear that my limited list of good deals is outweighed by a much longer list where it is the seller who has done well, but we live in hopes of slowly righting the balance. I just need to find the odd unrecognised Henry VIII Lion Sejant or the like. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11573 Registered: Apr 93	posted 11-04-2016 08:49 AM Lemon squeeze is correct! IP: Logged
asheland Posts: 935 Registered: Nov 2003	posted 11-04-2016 09:23 AM "Henry VIII Lion Sejant or the like" That would be nice indeed! IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2377 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 11-06-2016 10:52 AM Patented inventions are normally combinations of known things, but sometimes the combination is thought to produce nothing new. The pencil and eraser combination was patented in 1858, but in 1875 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the patent invalid. The Supreme Court ruled that “A combination, to be patentable, must produce a different force, effect, or result in the combined forces or processes from that given by their separate parts. There must be a new result produced by their union; otherwise it is only an aggregation of separate elements.” In this case the Supreme Court felt that nothing new had been invented as the pencil was old and the eraser was old so no new result occurred. The convenience of the user did not play into their thinking. That one could write and erase with one hand added nothing new in their view. I wonder if anyone thought of trying to get a patent on the mote spoon. IP: Logged

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