05 - Greece

Name: Greece

City: Athens, Greece

Date: 20 May 2024

First European spoon! Fortunate to find this at a market in Syntagma square. It's a standard stamped spoon with a smooth bowl adorned with blue and white enamelling, which are traditional colours of the talisman, common across the Mediterranean. The symbol at the handle is the Mati, or "evil eye". This ancient protective symbol is intended to ward off the "evil eye" curse, which is believed in Greek culture to be caused by envy or a malevolent glare. Surrounding the eye is a decorative circular border known as a Greek Key, and it represents the eternal flow of life. The stem is also designed to look like a classical Ionic column.