Catalog: Silver

This solid silver, two handled, tea strainer has a pierced bowl that measures 2 1/4" in diameter, is 3/4" deep, and has a maximum span of 4 5/8" handle tip to handle tip. It weighs just over .8 T. oz.

Made by The Merrill Co., aka as The Merrill Shops, located in New York City, the firm's emblem, the word "Sterling," and the number "804" are stamped on the backside.

Arts and Crafts in style, it likely dates to the first quarter of the 20th century...

A charming item, this 4 1/4" long, just over .3 T. oz. total weight, (baby) food pusher is stamped with the "sword through B" mark of Blackinton, along with the word "Sterling."

The pattern is rococo in style and incorporates scrolls and florettes along its asymmetrical border. This frames a white enamel ground that itself contains a pair of purple lilies with trailing green leaves. The canted blade has a flat end and scalloped edges...

An expressive, detailed high relief design, Durgin's late 19th century "Heraldic" incorporates many images appropriate to the name.

Starting with the top of the handle, there are a pair of upraised (presumably eagle) wings. These appear to rise out of a crown, which itself sits over a lion rampant on a shield. Lastly there is an upraised steed projecting out of a castle turret...

A late 19th century pattern, Durgin's "Empire" incorporates imagery reflective of majesty, nobility, and imperial realms. This includes a dominant crown. cornucopia, a torch and flame, a wreath, and festoons of ribbons and flowers.

This example is an unusual form server that measures 9 1/2" long and weighs a relatively heavy 2.9 T. oz.

It has a flat blade, with a rounded edge. The upper edge is scalloped and decorated with pattern elements. There is a slightly upraised area at the end...

Dating from 1902, George Shiebler's group of twelve month designs follows closely after his Flora series and his line pattern "Fiorito." All of them incorporate Art Nouveau, floral motifs.

This trio includes the months of "April," "September," and "November," and portrays respectively, a lily, a poppy, and a chrysanthemum.

Each spoon measures 6" long, and is heavy, weighing something over 1.0 T. oz. each, with slight variation piece to piece...

Some years ago, "The Magazine Antiques" produced an article about Gorham's fabled 1880s "Narragansett" design silver. An opulent line, it featured a variety of sea forms reflecting (and reputedly molded directly from in some instance) sea flora and fauna found in Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay and nearby coastland.

That article spawned (pun intended) an intensified interest in this already enchanted, and immensely costly, pattern...

Identified by the marker "M2" set alongside the Whiting lion emblem and the word "Sterling," the pattern on this matched youth knife and fork is engraved on a rounded "Antique" handle with a reverse tipt end.

The engraving is Aesthetic in manner, which is consistent with the 1884 date of this design. The backsides are plain, save for elegant, feathered script "ARF" monograms.

The 7" long knife is solid silver while the four-tine fork measures 6 1/8". The two together weigh 1.8 T...

This collapsible shaving brush made by Gorham is illustrated in the company catalog of 1906 (see image 2).

It measures 6" long when fully assembled, and 3 1/8" when folded up. Solid sterling, the holder and perforated cap weigh .7 T. oz. combined, while the base and brush together weigh another .7 T. oz.

The body is a high relief floral and leaf repousse design...

Made by San Francisco's Koehler & Ritter, and so marked, this coin silver serving spoon measures a lengthy 9" overall and has a generously proportioned, 3 3/4" by 2 1/2", plum-shaped bowl. It weighs approximately 2.3 T. oz.

The pattern is "Alameda" aka "Ivy." It strongly resembles Gorham's "Corinthian" of the same c. 1870 date, but with the addition of a spray of raised ivy leaves and berries set against a stippled ground.

The bowl has a central rib and something of a pie crust border....

An immensely scaled piece, this ice cream knife or slice is about as large an example of such things as can be found. It measures a full 12" long and weighs just over 5.0 T. oz.

It is solid sterling silver, with a flat blade that measures 7 1/2" by 1 3/4". This has a beveled lower edge, and upswept, pointed tip. The upper edge is perfectly straight.

The pattern is "Corona" by Dominick & Haff. This is a double shell design that appears on both sides of the handle. The handle front ha...

Tiffany's earliest pattern issued after the company became its own manufacturer was also the firm's namesake line, i.e. "Tiffany." It was later reissued with very slight design modifications under the name "Beekman," and is more generally recognized as that today.

This example is an early production piece, marked "Tiffany & Co.," "Sterling," "Pat. 1869," and with a lower case "m."

It is a 6 5/8" long salad fork, and, as became a benchmark with Tiffany silver, is heavy, weighing nearly 1...

An extravagant design, Gorham's "Paris" portrays an array of emblematic imagery.

These include figures such as a standing woman with an arc of stars around her head and a banner reading "Genovepha Parisis," and a pair of cherubs flanking the top front of the handle.

City landmarks are represented by a rendering of the full façade of "Notre Dame," while other, more generic, symbols include a wooden ship powered by sail and oars, birds with raised wings, acanthus, ivy, and laurel leaves, ...

While this 4 3/4" long, heavy at 1.4 T. oz., bon bon is akin to parallel items produced by such large manufacturers as Gorham and Whiting, this comes from an unexpected source, namely Roger Williams Silver Company of Providence, Rhode Island.

A successor to Howard Sterling Silver Co. c. 1900 according to Rainwater in her "Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers," it merged in 1903 with Mauser and Hayes & MacFarland to form the Mount Vernon Company, so the Roger Williams moniker was sho...

An early, original, piece of Whiting's stand-out Art Nouveau "Lily" pattern, this 9 1/8" long, heavy, 3.3 T. oz., salad serving spoon is marked with the Whiting lion logo, "Sterling," "Pat. 1902," "R'd 1902," and with the name of the retailer, Salem, Massachusetts "Daniel Low & Co."

It is distinguished by an elongated bowl, 3 1/2" by 2 1/16" at the widest, which in this instance retains very slight traces of an original gold wash.

It is without a monogram or removal and in mint estate co...

A grape motif dating from 1905, International's "Cloeta" reflects the abundantly expressive design sensibilities of its Art Nouveau period. It features high relief, intricately detailed grape clusters, leaves, and tendrils.

This group is a matching three piece place setting. It includes a dinner size knife that measures 9 7/8" long, a fork, commonly identified as regular size, that measures 7 1/4", and a 5 7/8" teaspoon.

This is a heavy line and that is the case with these pieces. The ...

Whiting produced two variants of a "Lily of the Valley" pattern. One was a full line design, and the other was limited to certain serving forms and smaller pieces.

This 6 1/8" long, approximately .4 T. oz., butter fork or pick is an example of the limited production series.

It has a twisted shank, with a cast rather than die struck cluster of blossoms on the end of the handle. These hang to the side on openwork stems.

The fork end has two splayed tines that have a satin finish and ...

This 7 7/8" long, approximately 2.0 t. oz., serving spoon was produced or adapted by San Francisco's George C. Shreve.

It is apparently modified from a Whiting "Louis XV" pattern. It retains the "Sterling" and "Pat. 1891" marks of that line, accompanied by "Geo. C. Shreve & Co.," and dates between 1891 and 1894, when the name of the firm became "Shreve & Co."

The piece incorporates two variations, both of which reflect highly sophisticated craftsmanship.

One, the handle is reticulat...

This example of Victorian period grape shears or, as period catalogues identify them, scissors, are of a quality that set the bar for such pieces. They excel in terms of design, manufacture, and material.

The first factor that stands out is that they are made of solid sterling silver. Grape shears typically have steel cutters, while these are clearly marked on the backside of the lower blade "Howard & Co.," the date "1892," "New York," and "Sterling." To be sure, they do have darkened sur...