posted 08-11-2003 08:06 AM              

I am desperately trying to find information about a silver set with an incredibly limited amount of information at my disposable. I know very little about silver.

This is all the information I have:

"At Christofle he obtained a place setting of the nineteenth-century silverware he preferred, in a Cardinal pattern, the maker's mark stamped in the bowl of the spoons, the Paris rat tail on the underside of the handles. The forks were deeply curved, the tines widely spaced, and the knives had a pleasing heft far back in the palm. The pieces hang in the hand like good dueling pistols."

posted 08-11-2003 11:46 AM            

They have a web page which has been "under construction" for quite a while now at

The type of service that Thomas Harris describes is typical of Christofle although I can find no immediate reference to a style known as Cardinal.

Bon apetit!

posted 08-11-2003 11:59 AM            

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posted 08-11-2003 07:24 PM              

I searched as was unable to find a reference to a Cardinal pattern, either. Granted, the passage says the place setting was nineteenth-century. Are the early Christofle records completely intact? Does the lack of references to a Cardinal pattern mean that there is no such pattern at it is merely an invention of Harris? He often gives false information deliberately.

posted 08-11-2003 08:42 PM            

Regarding Cardinal, another important French producer of silver and silver plate, Puiforcat do currently produce a style called Cardinal which would certainly fit Harris's description:

How old the style is, I don't know. Nor do I know if it's a generic style name used by other manufacturers e.g. Christofle, as well.

The "rat's tail" is clearly visible on the fork.

This said, the description "The pieces hang in the hand like good dueling pistols" for me at least conjours up this style of knife:

posted 08-12-2003 01:45 PM            

quote:

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How old the style is, I don't know. Nor do I know if it's a generic style name used by other manufacturers e.g. Christofle, as well.
The "rat's tail" is clearly visible on the fork.
This said, the description "The pieces hang in the hand like good dueling pistols" for me at least conjours up this style of knife:

---

If I interpret your question properly, you are are referring to the origin of this style, which is loosely based on the "trefid" form popular in the Western World at the end of the XVII C and beginning of the XVIII C.

The three-lobed cleft terminus of the fork and spoon, flattened shaft, ovoid spoon bowl and trident or three-pronged fork end are reminiscent of the period, although the use of the rat-tail I believe was confined to spoons. Some forks had two or four tines. The bands around the shafts suggest the sliding ferrules that were found on traveller's folding spoons and forks of the period. As you implied, pistol grip knives were made, but silver knives and forks were not particularly widely used, except in the "highest end" services. Tubular handles with a knopped terminus were found on some larger serving pieces, but I think not often in place settings. I have not seen square handles such as these on older pieces, but I am not especially familiar with variatons in early French styles, so if there are any that differ appreciably from what is described here, I would welcome comments.