Catalog: Silver: Sterling: Flatware

An prominent name among contemporary British metal workers, Michael Allen Bolton (1938-2005) produced signature jewelry, flatware, and small items in silver.

There is ample biographical information about him available online, along with illustrations of his products.

One UK source notes these details,

"He exhibited successfully at the Goldsmith's Company 'Loot' exhibitions from 1975 to 1981 and in their 'Contemporary Silver Tableware' exhibition in 1996...

A purveyor of fine quality antique jewelry and decorative artifacts, as well as (hand crafted) reproduction English sterling silver, James Robinson is a prestigious New York City firm with a history dating to 1912.

This 10" long, weighty 2.7 T. oz., meat skewer, sometimes identified as a letter opener, is an item from this highly touted source, stamped for London, Sterling, a letter date of 1982, and a script "JR" for the firm...

One of the last American companies to produce fully hand worked silver, "Old Newbury Crafters" items show the skill of the individual maker in every piece.

That is the case with this 8 1/2" long, 2.6 T. oz., solid silver, serving serving spoon in the company's 1939 Oak Leaf pattern.

Modernist/Deco in style, the handle has straight, tapered edges, with a tip that is surmounted by a representational oak leaf flanked by what are presumably two acorns...

Harry Osaki, Pasadena, California, emerged after World War II quickly to become a highly regarded metalsmith and designer who produced both jewelry and flat and hollow ware.

A modernist, his work was hand fashioned, following after the Arts & Crafts movement that arose earlier in the 20th century.

This example of his work is an 8 1/2" long, 2.73 T. oz., solid silver, salad of other serving fork.

It has a plain, tapered, handle with sharply angled corners and a straight across end...

Dating from the middle third of the 20th century as indicated by the particular "S. Kirk & Son Sterling" mark that appears on the handle backside, this 5 3/8" long, approximately 1.0 T. oz., round bowl piece is variously identified as a cream or mayonnaise ladle.

The pattern is the company's signature "Repousse," featuring an array of high relief, satin finish, flowers and leaves.

The backside is plain and never monogrammed...

Born in 1897, James Brett Hamlin's life encompassed nearly the full span of the 20th century as he lived until 1994.

A silversmith and pewterer with a specialty in jewelry, he studied and worked in New York City until settling in Maine about midpoint in his life, and where he remained active until about 1980. One source describes him as a "true modernist."

This 5 7/8" long, nearly 1.3 T. oz., gravy ladle is an apparently rare example of his flatware work executed in sterling silver...

Introduced in 1951, Rondo was made by Gorham. Both the pattern and the company name, along with the word "Sterling," appear of the backside of this 8 1/4" long, weighty at 2.5 T. oz., all silver tomato server in the pattern.

A clean design, French with a modernistic flair, this has scrolled margins which are expanded into a rosette on the handle end.

The blade is large, has scalloped edges, a pierced surface, and a slightly cupped heel...

The longest master salt spoon that Kirk made in its flagship Repousse pattern, each of these two, matched, examples measures 3 3/4". They weigh a relatively heavy .96 T. oz. the pair.

Never monogrammed, they have plain backs save for the marks, which are "S. Kirk & Son," which Rainwater dates 1932-61, along with "Sterling."

In spite of their considerable age, they are in exceptionally fine condition, showing no evidence they were ever used...

Colonial Williamsburg commissioned Baltimore's Stieff Company (later Kirk-Stieff) to produce the revivalist Queen Anne line of flatware, which was introduced in 1940 and sold through "CW."

Queen Anne is a Hanoverian design with a rounded-end, upturned handle with a midrib and a rattail bowl back.

A companion pattern, Williamsburg Shell was added in 1970...

This 6 3/8" long, just over 1.0 T. oz...

The Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers by Dorothy Rainwater indicates that "The Kalo Shop" was founded in 1900 by Clara Barck Welles and "went on to become the largest and most influential producer of handwrought silverware and jewelry in the midwest."

Rainwater further notes that "Mrs. Welles retired in 1940." Given that this 10 1/8" long, 3.6 T. oz., serving spoon is engraved on the backside, "AS HCM" over "Feb. 14, 1939," it traces to the founder's working years, which le...

A worker who apprenticed in the shop of renowned Arts & Crafts silversmith Arthur Stone, George Erickson founded his own studio in Gardner, Massachusetts, the same city as Stone, in 1932. The business continues today under the ownership of his grandson Peter.

This 6 1/2" long, approximately 1.2 T. oz., serving spoon is an early production piece, original to George, marked "Erickson Sterling".

A serving spoon with an ovoid bowl, the pattern is "Chino," which is a rounded end fiddle design. ...

As noted in a catalogue listing for a spoon held by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, "Horace E. Potter, a native of Cleveland, was one of the city’s most accomplished and long-lived artists of the Arts and Crafts era.""

He produced jewelry and flat and hollow ware. In addition to the piece noted above, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum has a leaf form spoon of his that is listed on its online catalogue.

Working from 1897 onward, he established the partnership of Potte...

An early production example of the 1810 flatware pattern introduced in 1930, this 8 1/4" long, weighty at 2.3 T. oz., all silver (not partly stainless steel) cold meat fork is marked with the "Native American profile" emblem of the Wilcox & Evertsen division of International Silver, along with "Sterling."

The pattern is colonial in style, featuring a fiddle shaped handle with a tipped backside and distinct flanking shoulders off the bowl.

The serving end has four symmetrical, plain ...

A relatively large item, this gravy ladle measures 7" long, has a 2 1/2" by 2" by 3/4" deep, oval bowl, and weighs just under 2.3 T. oz.

Fashioned in an Arts & Crafts manner, it was produced by Arthur Stone whose "Stone and hammer - Sterling" symbol, along with a benchman's "B" for Charles W. Brown, or possibly George Blanchard, appears on the handle reverse.

The angular "Coffin End" handle was one of Stone's early designs, first issued in 1910.

A plain piece, i.e. never monogrammed or...

This 4" long, .6 T. oz., piece has a shield, wreath, and bow motif engraved on a Pointed Antique handle.

The heavily hammered, oval, bowl with notched shoulders, is a telling feature that places it within the Arts & Crafts mode, dating from the early decades of the 20th Century.

Further evidence of its construction is the fact that the handle and bowl were individually made and joined with an exposed drop on the backside.

The handle reverse is engraved with an Old English ...

Offered in both sterling silver and silver plate, Harlequin was a floral series issued by Reed & Barton and generally made in a variety of generally smaller items.

These seven, 4" long, 2.35 T. oz. the group, coffee or demitasse spoons are early pieces marked with the company's "eagle, R, lion" (later items are stamped "Reed & Barton") along with "Sterling."

Cast rather than die struck, they are highly textured, possess intricate detail, and show a soft gray finish on the silver. Th...

Exceptionally weighty at 3.6 T. oz., this 8 3/4" long berry or other serving spoon is marked with the three part emblem of the "Schofield Co." founded in 1903 in Baltimore, and "Sterling."

The pattern is "Lorraine" and has antecedents that predate the company itself.

The handle is a "Pointed Antique" with a slightly "Tipt" backside. The front is engraved in a "Mayflower" design that has its origins in Baltimore and which evolved into a full line of flatware produced by Kirk under this name...