Catalog: Silver

One of the most expressive of renowned Gorham designer Antoine Heller's patterns, Medici aka Old Medici features figures and imagery drawn from the Italian Renaissance period.

Most references date the pattern to 1880, although Charles Carpenter in his benchmark Gorham Silver places it about 1883.

This piece is a large, 13" long, nearly 7.0 T. oz. (215 grams), all silver soup ladle.

The intricacy of the design shows to full advantage at this essentially massive scale...

This 5 1/4" long, .8 T. oz., bon bon (or petit fours server) was made by Alvin whose "A" flanked by an "eagle and a sword" emblem and "Sterling" is imprinted on the handle backside.

An unnamed pattern, its scrolling, asymmetrical margins are suggestive of Whiting's Louis XV, although this version is more elaborate than Whiting's.

The dominant feature of the piece is its large, 2 7/8" by 2 3/4", pierced and embossed, bowl with a piecrust front edge and flange rim...

A design originated by Henry Hebbard, New York City, and later offered as a line pattern by Whiting, Mask was also retailed by Tiffany under its own name in the 1860s. This 6 1/8" long, .8 T. oz., sugar spoon is a case in point...

Rooted in Moorish design, Whiting's Arabesque features a standing griffin with widespread wings set against a vine, leaf, and rosette background that are the defining elements of arabesque design.

This example is an 8 7/8" long, 2.4 T. oz., all silver, pie server that was retailed by "Ettenheimer [& Co.]," Rochester, New York, as stamped on the handle backside. Other marks include Whiting's "standing lion with a W" emblem, "Sterling," "Pat...

Standing 2 7/8" high, with a top diameter of 2 3/8" and a bottom diameter of 1 7/8", a maximum span of 3 5/8" to the end of the handle, and weighing a relatively light but proportional to the overall size, 2.8 T. oz., this mug is marked "WwH" for Wood and Hughes, New York City, and "900/1000" for coin silver.

Baluster form, it has a beaded base with smaller beading encircling the top rim...

Lengthy at 10 1/4" and weighing 2.6 T. oz., this all silver server is likely a fish slice although some sources identify it as an ice cream server.

Ice cream servers tend to be more bulbous or stubby than fish slices, while conversely the later is more slender and generally has a more pointed tip and flatter surface than the former, and this goes in that direction...

This pair of coin silver tongs are generously sized at 6 1/4" long and weigh 1.2 T. oz.

Each arm is stamped "F. [for Foster] Tinkham," born in Middleboro, Massachusetts, in 1803, and documented working in New York City in 1840, the approximate date of this piece, as a jeweler and watchmaker. He had returned to Massachusetts by 1855.

The arms are Fiddle shaped, which is a style consistent with their period...

One of several specially designed, numbered, oyster, aka shrimp or seafood cocktail, forks that Gorham presented in its 1886 catalogue (see enlargement 2), No. 10 features a ball top with twisted stems.

This offering is for a full set of twelve matched pieces, all in flawless, original condition.

Each one measures 5 7/8" long, while the group weigh 4.7 T. oz...

One of Gorham's earliest full line patterns, Grecian was produced to a coin silver standard beginning in 1861 and then continued in sterling from 1868 onward.

This example is marked only "Patent 1861" and with Gorham's "lion, anchor, G" emblem absent a sterling designation, thus indicating it is coin.

It is also the largest iteration of a ladle in this line and is for soup...

Marked with Durgin's "D" emblem along with "Sterling" and the number "2," this 7 3/4", approximately 1.0 T. oz., long handle olive spoon is not immediately identifiable as a regular line pattern.

The open work at the end of the handle, in company with the design details, evoke the Durgin's rarely found 1887 Alcazar pattern, although this is not an exact match...

Marked with Gorham's "lion, anchor, G" emblem, "Sterling," and "Copyrighted" on the backside heel of the bowl, this is an early production example of the company's 1888 Versailles pattern.

A table, i.e. serving, spoon, it measures 8 1/2" long and weighs an exceptionally heavy 2.44 T. oz.

The pattern is multi-motif and known for its portraiture of scenes from daily life at the palace of Versailles and the court of French King Louis XIV.

The imagery on this features a seated...

Designed for a very specific purpose, claret ladles are necessarily lengthy, and this solid silver example is especially so at 13 1/4". It weighs a substantial 2.4 T. oz.

Made by Gorham, it is stamped with the company's "lion, anchor, G" emblem, "Sterling," and model number "912."

While the handle is rendered in Gorham's beaded-with-tipt-end Newcastle pattern, the fact that it is numbered indicates it was a specialty piece independent of the flatware line per se.

The central sec...

This large, 9 1/8" long, just over 3.0 T. oz. (95 grams), berry scoop or shovel (sometimes identified as a cracker scoop) is a mid 19th century item with Philadelphia provenance. It is marked "J.E. Caldwell & Co." for the renowned manufacturer turned jeweler from that city.

Other marks include "coin" for the silver standard, and very small cartouche with the letters "ET," for which there is not an immediate explanation.

The form is very much of its period and place. The handle has a twi...

A 7" long, 1.1 T. oz., preserve or jelly spoon, this piece has a generously sized, 2 1/2" by 1 5/8", shell shaped bowl with a scalloped edge and slightly pointed tip.

Made by John Wendt in his Medallion pattern, it is stamped with his characteristic "Patent" and "925," along with the name of the retailer, Boston's "Bigelow Bros. & Kennard."

One of the most impressive of the myriad Medallion figures offered by American manufacturers in the 1860s, the line featured a variety of...

Stamped "Sterling" and with the "H&S" emblem of Hotchkiss & Schreuder, Syracuse NY, and retailed by "Austin & Prescott," Batavia NY, this piece measures 8 3/4" long and weighs 1.7 T. oz.

The pattern is Longfellow, which clearly follows after the Moorish and Egyptian Revival trends popular in its 1870s period.

It features a repeating series of palm fronds, palmettes, rosettes and ivy leaves along a shaped handle with a pyramid end.

There is a central reserve area on the handle fro...

This pair of grape shears (identified as scissors in period catalogues) is a far more consequential item than most of its kindred examples.

Model number "1772" made by Whiting, and so identified on the collar of one handle, along with a "925/1000" sterling designation, they measure 6 5/8" long and weigh a substantial 4.63 T. oz.

The handles are cast and solid silver and constitute the bulk of the weight, with the plated steel cutting end the remaining portion of the total.

One of the bl...

An early line pattern, Gorham's Louis XIV, is Greek Revival in style in spite of carrying a French name.

The main feature is an anthemion leaf, with additional detailing reminiscent of Gorham's also Greek Revival Corinthian design of the same period.

This example is a lengthy 5 1/4", .9 T. oz., pair of sugar tongs with gold washed claw or talon grips and columnar legs.

In superb condition, this pair have never been monogrammed on either the reserve shields on the ar...

One of William B. Durgin's earliest patterns, dating circa 1870, and commonly identified as Spray, this design features a bouquet of woodland flowers and grasses tied by a bow.

This motif appears in the top center of the handle, and is repeated on the lower front and backside heel of the join with the blade of this 6 3/4" long, 1.0 T. oz., master butter knife.

There is a script letter "R" monogram on the handle front.

The blade has a scalloped upper edge, upswept and pointed tip,...