Like the Kalo Shop and other American Arts and Crafts endeavors, the Handicraft Guild was influenced by C.R. Ashbee's Guild of Handicraft, founded in 1888 in London. A course catalog summed up the Handicraft Guild's mission: "[to] give authoritative instruction in design and its solution in terms of materials; also to furnish complete training for students desirous of becoming Craftsmen, Designers and Teachers." Although most objects made by its members were marked only with "HG," surviving records indicate many of the guild's students were women. The geometric cutout on this spoon is similar to those on nut bowls that the Guild produced in both silver and copper.