Item number: X15

Year: AD 1880s

Material: Silver

Size: 122.3 x 24.8 x 8.9 mm

Weight: 12.6 g

Manufactured by: Nuremberg, Germany

Provenance: Antiques Joglar Kamakura 2024

This is a finely crafted silver spoon from the 1880s, originating from Nuremberg, a city in southern Germany. The spoon features two distinctive elements: the engraving of the iconic landmark, the “Pentagonal Tower,” on the bowl of the spoon, and the decorative representation of the “Iron Maiden,” a historical torture device, at the tip of the handle.

The full German name of the “Pentagonal Tower” is “Fünfeckiger Turm Nürnberg”, a defencive structure built in AD 1192, located in the northeastern corner of Nuremberg’s Old Town. The tower’s structure consists of two stone walls filled with rubble in between, giving it a thickness of up to one metre. This robust design provided substantial shock absorption, allowing the tower to survive the bombings of World War II.

The top of the spoon features a depiction of the “Iron Maiden”, one of Nuremberg’s most famous 19th-century tourist attractions. The Iron Maiden is a legendary medieval torture device, rumoured to have sharp spikes inside that would impale prisoners locked within, rendering them unable to move without suffering severe injuries. The decoration on this spoon faithfully reproduces the intricate details of the Iron Maiden’s interior.

However, according to scholarly research, while similar devices were recorded in ancient Sparta and the Abbasid Caliphate, there are no historical records of the Iron Maiden being used in medieval Europe. It is largely considered a product of later imagination rather than a genuine medieval instrument of torture.

The Iron Maiden is widely regarded as a myth that gained popularity in 19th-century Europe. One of the figures often associated with this legend is Countess Elizabeth Báthory from the 16th century. According to folklore, the countess lured and abducted young women, using the Iron Maiden to kill them to collect their blood, which she believed would grant her eternal youth.

In AD 1857, Nuremberg crafted a version of the Iron Maiden modelled after the Virgin Mary, which quickly cemented itself in the public imagination as the archetype of this fearsome device. Unfortunately, the original Nuremberg Iron Maiden was destroyed during Allied bombings near the end of World War II in AD 1945.

物件編號: X15

年代: 公元 1880 年代

材質: 銀

尺寸: 122.3 x 24.8 x 8.9 mm

重量: 12.6 g

製造地: 紐倫堡，德國

來源: 鎌倉古董吟遊詩人 2024

這是一根公元1880年代之際，位於德國南部的紐倫堡打造的精緻銀湯匙。這一支湯匙有兩大特色，分別是鐫刻在湯勺上的名勝古蹟「五角塔」以及湯匙頂端的「鐵處女」酷刑工具裝飾。

「五角塔」德文全名為「Fünfeckiger Turm Nürnberg」，是一棟公元1192年建造於紐倫堡老城區東北角的防禦工事。五角塔的結構由兩堵石牆組成，牆壁之間填充碎石使得厚度達到一公尺，且擁有強大的緩衝效果，使得塔樓得以在第二次世界大戰的轟炸中倖存。

湯匙頂端同樣是在公元19世紀，紐倫堡最為出名的觀光名勝之一，即空想的中世紀酷刑刑具「鐵處女」。鐵處女是一種傳說中的刑具，傳聞其內部有許多的尖刺，關在裡面無法動彈的囚犯將會遭到利刃穿刺的折磨。而這一根湯匙的鐵處女裝飾，高度還原內部的細節。根據學者考證，雖然在古希臘的斯巴達和阿拔斯王朝有類似的刑具紀錄，但是在中世紀歐洲卻沒有任何記載。

鐵處女應該是公元19世紀後才在歐洲流行的神話，其中一個被影射的人物是公元16世紀的巴托里伯爵夫人，傳聞為了得到處女的鮮血永保青春，女伯爵便誘騙和綁架少女以鐵處女加以殺害好獲得鮮血。公元1857年，紐倫堡還特別以聖母瑪利亞為造型打造一尊鐵處女，很快成為世人對於鐵處女的印象。可惜的是，紐倫堡鐵處女原件在公元1945年第二次世界大戰末期，遭到盟軍的轟炸而毀損。