Ice Cream Slicer and 10 Ice Cream Spoons

While Samuel Gottscho is renowned for his striking architectural and landscape photography, this silver ice cream slicer and set of spoons offer a different glimpse into the world he documented. Gottscho, who became a professional commercial photographer at the age of 50 after years as a traveling salesman, frequently captured images of private homes and their interiors for home decoration magazines, as well as architectural features for publications like *American Architect and Architecture*. Though this particular object is not a photograph, it represents the kind of elegant domestic items that would have furnished the homes Gottscho so meticulously photographed, especially during the period when he was most active, from the 1920s through the 1960s. His work often appeared in the *New York Times*, illustrating articles on everything from wildflowers to cityscapes, but also the refined lifestyle of the era. This slicer and spoons reflect the meticulous craftsmanship and design sensibility of the time, echoing the attention to detail Gottscho himself brought to his photographic compositions.