Handled steatite ladle, from Houlland, Unst, Shetland

Handled steatite ladle from Houlland, Unst, Shetland

Ladle of horn, from Broomend of Crichie, Aberdeenshire

Silver ladle with handle in shape of a dolphin, from Traprain Law, East Lothian, 410 - 425 AD

Handled steatite ladle from Jarlshof

Ladle or simpulum in bronze with a semi-ovoid bowl and long straight grooved handle bent over at the end and terminating in a duck-bill: Ancient Egyptian, Lower Egypt, said to be Abydos, Late Period

Copper alloy ladle (simpula) with a semi-ovoid bowl and long, straight, grooved handle terminating in a goose head: Ancient Egyptian, Upper Egypt, Abydos, Kom el-Sultan, Late Period, c.664-332 BC

Copper alloy ladle (simpula) with a semi-ovoid bowl and long, straight, grooved handle terminating in a goose head: Ancient Egyptian, Upper Egypt, Abydos, Kom el-Sultan, Late Period, c.664-332 BC

Ladle, bowl carved with lions and floral decoration, long wooden handle carved with zoomorphic and floral decoration, wood and coconut shell inlay: Sri Lanka, possibly 19th century

Spoon or ladle made from horn of Rocky Mountain sheep or Big horn: North America, Canada, Northwest Coast, from British Columbia

Ladle, of red cedar, with a deep scoop tapering to a handle with extremity carved in the likeness of the head of a bear, the bowl painted with an incomplete design of a bear's head in red pigment: North America, Canada, British Columbia or USA, Alaska, Northern Northwest Coast, late 19th century

Ladle, wood, with carved bear handle: North America, Canada, British Columbia or USA, Alaska, Northern Northwest Coast, before 1888

One of two carved wooden ladles used for dividing porridge: Africa, Malawi, late 19th century

One of two carved wooden ladles used for dividing porridge: Africa, Malawi, late 19th century

Carved ivory model of a ladle with circular stamped decoration: Africa, Eastern Africa, Malawi, Blantyre or Domasi, early 20th century

Silver-gilt ladle with a shell bowl and heavy scrolled handle with a cinquefoil on the end of the knob, based on a design by the German artist Heinrich Aldegrever, dated 1539: English, London, maker's mark IR, probably by John Robins, 1812 - 1813