Asparagus tongs have a wide, flat bottom tong with a rounded top tong that allows you to scoop up and serve several spears at one time. This traditional piece of serveware is typically made from sterling silver. While new patters are available today some of the more striking pieces were made in Europe in the early 20th century.
Asparagus tongs were part of the formal table setting in the mid 18th to the 19th century. Some manufactures continued to make silver plate versions well into the 20th century. You can still find them on Ebay, Etsy and places like Replacements.com.
As far a specialty serve-ware goes, asparagus tongs were pretty practical. The fact that you could neatly pick up, drain, then transfer several asparagus spears to a guests plate is pretty sweet.