David Western

“Over the years, it has become a tradition and point of pride that a lovespoon always be carved in this way. The idea of gluing sections together is frowned upon and now tends to be viewed with contempt by most modern lovespoon carvers. With he advent of ever more affordable tools, carvers throughout Britain and Europe were able to make use of fine saws, gouges, files and planes to undertake increasingly more difficult carvings.”
― David Western, History of Lovespoons: The Art and Traditions of a Romantic Craft (Fox Chapel Publishing) Comprehensive Guide to History, Artifacts, Symbol Significance, Spoon Detail, and More with 250 Color Photos

“Throughout Europe and the Eastern United States the comma symbol was commonly thought of as a ''raindrop'' and thus has a fertility or ''source of plenty'' aspect. The comma shape is also commonly seen in folk art as a wheel formation of four commas nearly touching at the center- a form featured frequently on Welsh spoons.”
― David Western, History of Lovespoons: The Art and Traditions of a Romantic Craft (Fox Chapel Publishing) Comprehensive Guide to History, Artifacts, Symbol Significance, Spoon Detail, and More with 250 Color Photos