This large, fragmentary spoon is of a type used by both ancient doctors and laypeople. Milne’s “Surgical Instruments in Greek & Roman Times” describes this type as a spoon for measuring, preparing, and pouring medicines or cosmetics. Interestingly, the bowls of these spoons are frequently thinned at the bottom to facilitate heating or melting the contents over a flame before application. Several known examples have spouts or perforations to allow the heated medicine to be poured into an affl ...click for details
Almost every medical writer of antiquity mentions the spathomele, or spatula probe, in their texts. These tools consist of a long shaft with a rounded point at one end and a spatula at the other. This variety of spatula probe is known as a cyathiscomele, a variety of spathomele in which the spatula blade is curved or bowl-shaped, not flat. The famous Roman medical writer Galen (130-200 A.D.) pointed out that this type of instrument was used by a wide variety of people, including surgeons for pro ...click for details
This is a fine example of a fairly common cosmetic implement used by the Romans for simple hygiene. The small scoop at one end was used to clean one's ears, while the pointed end served as a simple probe/scraper to help keep hands and fingernails clean. No Roman with enough wealth to own a cosmetic/toilet set would have been without a piece like this one!
