Though visitors affectionately refer to it as the “fork and spoon” collection, the cases on the Selby Lobby mezzanine are the result of an extensive effort by Dr. Spencer Miller.

Each set of utensils are made from a different type of wood found around the world. Dr. Miller’s odyssey started when he created a set as a wedding shower gift for his prospective daughter-in-law. This grew into a passion that found him traveling around the world looking for different types of wood.

Among the rare woods in the collection are Honduras Rosewood which is generally only used to make musical marimbas and a piece of wood mined in England after it has been underground for over 10,000 years.

All told, Dr. Miller collected 500 sets of these hand carved utensils. However, he also created letter openers, baskets, cutting boards and children’s blocks from the wood he collected.