Now that the wedding is over I can post a picture of my gift for Mariko at her bridal shower. A while ago I took a spoon carving class. This is the third spoon from that class.
A little about love spoons: The earliest existing examples date from the 1600’s and were carved by young men and given to the girls they hoped to marry. There were no marriage licenses or engagement rings at that time and these served as a sort of contract. They showed the girl’s father that the young man was good with his hands and could provide for the family; and they were often hung proudly on the wall after the marriage. The carved spoons usually included motifs which had special meaning (a heart for love, a lock for security, a cross for faith, etc.). Today, love spoons are given as gifts to commemorate special occasions, for birthdays and holidays, or “just because”.
The spoon that I carved is made from mahogany and contains two symbols – a heart and a braided handle. The braid symbolizes a cord of three strands. In the Bible, Ecclesiastes 4:12 mentions that “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” In a marriage, two of the strands are the husband and the wife; the third strand is God who brings strength and stability to the marriage. The heart, of course stands for love. I gave this to Mariko as a token of our love and commitment to her as our son’s wife and as a precious member of our family.
