The Ash Archive. The Halpern Gallery, Chatham (2018). Photo: Elena Amoros
The Ash Archive. The Halpern Gallery, Chatham (2018). Photo: Elena Amoros
Of Scottish origin, a spurtle is also known as porridge spoon. This wooden utensil dates back from the 15th century and it is most generally used to stir soups, stews and of course, porridge. Unlike a common spoon, spurtles are most frequently, if not always, made out of wood, and its spatula-like shape -which subsequently evolved to a more cylindrical shape- prevents lumps forming on the porridge.
Whilst UK’s favoured tree to manufacture spurtles is the beech, the spurtle from The Ash Archive demonstrates how any kind of object can be produced from this tree species as well.
