Catalog

Dating from 1870, John Wendt's Florentine is an intricately detailed and finely rendered, Renaissance Revival, design.

This 10 1/8" long, 2.7 T. oz., item is a rare form, likely pudding, serving spoon.

It has a symmetrical, 4 3/4" long by 2 1/4" at the widest, oval blade or bowl with a slightly scooped interior. This has a deep gold finish front and backsides, and delicate, stylized leaf and blossom engraving at the tip.

There is a feathered script, possibly "JDQ," monogram i...

A 5 5/8" long, .7 T. oz., item, this spoon was made by A.F. Towle (later Lunt), as indicated by the "TS" emblem imprinted on the reverse, along with the word "Sterling."

Based on the 1899 Wentworth pattern, it includes an image of a plump, completely baby-like, winged cherub draped in a garland of roses, all set in very high relief that rises off the handle in sculpture-like manner.

The figure is surrounded by beading, below which are more fully developed rose blossoms.

The hand...

A popular motif in mid 19th century silver design, the (acanthus) Leaf pattern (named Josephine by Gorham) was produced by a number of makers.

This 6 1/8" long, .85 T. oz., coin silver, fork is marked with Albert Coles's three part "eagle, AC, bust" emblem and dates circa 1860.

With three slender tines and a fourth wide one with a hooked end, this is likely an early style of pastry fork, although it could also be a pickle fork variant.

In this period, makers were still ev...

Victorian Aesthetic design of the late 19th century often drew subjects from nature and that is the case with Frank Whiting's somewhat rare, multi-motif, Oxalis pattern.

Acid etched, it appears to portray clover but oxalis is a distinct plant. As a popular Instagram poster notes in an entry about this pattern:

"Clover and oxalis are commonly misidentified due to their similar leaf appearance, but they are actually different plants. The main difference between the two ...

This 8" long, 2.3 T. oz., solid silver sugar sifter is high Victorian in style. It is also a study in the silversmithing art.

Hallmarked for London, 1875-76, sterling, with a Queen's duty head, and "HH" for maker Henry Holland (later Holland, Aldwinckle & Slater), it carries considerable provenance. Holland and the subsequent firm were recognized as one of the most significant English silver manufacturers of their time.

This is artful in multiple ways.

First to be noted is the overall p...

A 6" long, just under 1.0 T. oz., item, this ladle has a bowl that measures 2" in diameter and is 1/2" deep.

It is a cream or sauce ladle in Whiting's Heraldic, which apropos of the pattern name, is dominated by the image of a medieval helmet set at the top of the handle. The remainder of the design incorporates a dense array of high relief, scrolling acanthus leaves.

The bowl on this is the fancier of two that Whiting used for this line. It has a scalloped rim and raised, leafy ...

One of the most charming of the myriad engraved patterns that Gorham produced in the last decades of the 19th century, Nightingale portrays a single eponymous songbird perched on a leafy branch.

Its beak is open, as if trilling a bright greeting to all who might hear it.

Set on a rounded end, convex, handle with a satin finish, the engraving is particularly fine and precisely detailed.

In the instance of this 5 3/4" long, .6 T. oz., sugar spoon, the handle is also inscribed in fa...

Continental in scale, this dinner fork measures a lengthy 8 1/4" and weighs a massive 2.8 T. oz.

It is marked with the French first standard Minerva head for 950 silver (vs. 925 for sterling), a confirming bigorne, and maker's mark "LL either side of a cross with stars top and bottom," attributed to Paris silversmith Louis Loyer, 1890-1913, by an online source.

The pattern is in the manner of a Kings, with a concave shell on the terminus of the handle front, a convex shell on the ba...

Standing 1 13/16" tall and 1 3/4" in diameter, this substantially sized napkin ring weighs .75 T. oz.

Likely dating from the 1880s, it is more intricately designed than most examples of its period.

It has double bands of repeating palmettes and stars top and bottom, separated by a raised, rounded, channel between each pair of bands.

The main, 3/4" wide, central surface, is flat, has a satin finish, and is engraved in an Aesthetic style leaf, fern, and flower motif with wriggle work det...

Designed and introduced by silversmith Albert Coles, New York City, in the mid 19th century, the flatware pattern Jenny Lind met with success in the marketplace and was in time produced by other manufacturers in addition to Coles.

This 8" long, approximately 1.6 T. oz., coin silver place spoon (tablespoon in today's usage) is an early example, stamped with Coles' three part emblem and the name of Rochester, New York retailer "[Elias S. and Jacob] Ettenheimer."

It is also engraved in...

An elaborate figural design ssued in 1891, the central motif of Dominick & Haff's Cupid is a winged cherub. While always a cupid's face and portion of the upper torso, there is variation in the specific portraiture from piece to piece.

Overall, the pattern is rococo in style, featuring a series of scrolls and leafy elements arrayed in an asymmetrical manner.

This example, a 10" long, heavy at 3.9 T. oz., solid silver ice cream knife is one of the largest and most commanding serving...

This preserve or jelly spoon measures 6 7/8" long and weighs 1.0 T. oz.

It is a mid 19th century, coin silver, piece in a French Thread aka Fiddle Thread pattern.

The 2 1/4" bowl is shell form with a scalloped and notched edge and high, rounded, shoulders at the join with the handle.

Never monogrammed, it is in excellent condition, absent polishing wear, free of dents, bends, or tears in the bowl, and with a pleasing patina. There are light surface scratches consistent wit...

This spoon is a commemorative of one of the climactic events of the 19th century, namely the Chicago World's Fair, formally the World's Columbian Exposition.

Made by Whiting, whose "standing lion with W" and "Sterling," are stamped on the backside, this measures 5 7/8" long and weighs just under 1.0 T. oz.

The front of the handle incorporates the name of the event, along with "1893," as well as "Chicago" arrayed over a "star" and a staunch looking "phoenix head" (so identifie...

An early production example of Gorham's Tuileries pattern, this piece is marked with the company's "lion, anchor, G" emblem, "Sterling," "Pat. 1906," and the name of the retailer, Chicago's "Spaulding & Co.," with which Gorham established a special marketing and manufacturing relationship in 1888.

An 11" long, heavy at 5.6 T. oz., solid silver ladle, it is for oysters (stew) rather than the yet larger version for soup.

In distinction from the Art Nouveau style that predominated in i...

Patented in 1868 (the same year that Gorham adopted the sterling standard for all its silver products), and so marked on the reverse, Ivy, aka Egyptian Ivy, is one of the company's earliest full line patterns.

This example is a lengthy, 7 7/8", and rather weighty, 1.2 T. oz., solid silver, master butter knife.

Ivy has a tubular handle that leads to a broad end that features a delicate portraiture of ivy leaves and berries set against a stippled ground. There is a cross...

Produced in the greatest number between 1780 and 1840, English meat skewers varied little in form (Thomas Waldron, Antique Silver), although as this example illustrates, they ranged in size.

Generally quite lengthy (there are three others offered on Old Friends between 10" and 12" long), this piece measures 7" and weighs approximately .6 T. oz. Its size actually sets it apart.

It is fully hallmarked for London, 1805-6, sterling silver, and maker Thomas Wallis.

The shank is...

Established in the late 19th century in Providence, Rhode Island, Campbell-Metcalf produced a variety of silver items including several lines of flatware.

This example is in the company's Stuart pattern and is a relatively small, 5 7/8" long, just over .5 T. oz., cheese knife.

The pattern features a series of graduated, raised, ovals with lined borders on the upper end of the handle, with an acanthus leaf and single flower blossom set mid point.

The curved lower edge of the blade...

This item is desirable on multiple counts. It is an early piece by a renowned maker in a sought after pattern, and finally, it is an unusual form.

Measuring 5 1/2" long and weighing a relatively light 19 grams (just over .6 T. oz.), it is a pierced bowl spoon in Georg Jensen's 1919 Blossom pattern, No. 84 in this instance, and so marked.

Other designators include Jensen's "GI surrounded by a circle of dots" emblem used circa 1910-25, "Denmark," and "Sterling."

Set on a sle...