Atypical Norwegian Wedding Spoons

An interesting variation of a Norwegian Wedding Spoon from the Norsk Folkemuseum collection. The two spoons are not the same and are much less ornate than the ones I've been carving. The large spoon has 1909 inscribed on the handle. The chain is an order of magnitude more difficult than what we normally see. The loops are circular and much larger than the link body. That's difficult! One other interesting little detail about the chain. On every wedding spoon chain I can remember seeing the loops on each end of an individual link are perpendicular to each other. The same as this one. With one exception. The second link on the bottom in the first picture has the loops in line. Why? Did he have a lapse of attention and make a mistake? Is it a repair by a later carver who just couldn't be bothered to do it right? Did he do it to make the link on the other end of the chain have the proper orientation? Or is there some other meaning? I guess we'll never know.

EDIT: I guess I'm not as observant as I thought I was. I found two other atypical sets with the odd link in the middle of the chain. I also found one symmetrical set with the odd link, but that was a much more modern design. The vast majority of symmetrical sets I've seen don't have that link. And thanks to Kathleen Aker for kicking my curiosity into gear.

If you would like to see some of the spoons I've carved, visit my Etsy shop https://theartofromance.etsy.com or my Facebook page https://facebook.com/Robert.tinsley.98

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