Roman Silver 'Travel' Spoon. 4th century A.D. A short silver spoon with shallow piriform bowl, raised neck with movable pinned hinge attached to the square-section handle and shortened knob finial, allowing the handle to be folded into the bowl. Cf. Shelton, K.J., The Esquiline Treasure, London, 1981, item 27, for type. 28.4 grams, 10.8 cm (4 1/4 in.) UK private collection before 2000. UK art market. Property of a London gentleman. As today, the spoon was used as a measure for dosage in ancient times too. Both the cochlear and the ligula could have been used to measure different quantities, particularly in the practice of medicine and in the kitchen. Isidore (Origines, XVI, 26.3) tells us that the cochlear was the smallest unit size and was worth half a drachma.

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