posted 05-17-2005 03:28 PM            

The taste for medallion/Neoclassical design faded around the early 1870s, and patterns based on more exotic sources--such as Egypt and the Far East--were the most common in the 1870s. (However, I believe that Hotchkiss & Schreuder and whatever company it later became produced their Neoclassical Medallion pattern at least into the 1890s).

Tiffany introduced their Japanese pattern in 1871 and through most of the 1870s, silver in the Japanese taste most closely resembled Japanese prints, with depictions of birds, plant life, etc.

Then in the late 1870s, a new phase of Japanesque design brought about the use of hammered finishes, mixed metals, and many far more asymmetrical & curious designs.

In about 1880, Shiebler seems to have re-introduced the medallion design, only those Greek and Roman busts now appeared within hammered, distressed, and asymmetrically chased surroundings, rather than within classical designs. Other makers followed suit.

The idea was seemingly to capture the medallions as though they had just been recovered from an archaeological dig, in the same way that many makers wanted to capture leaves, bugs, sea life, etc. as though they had just been found in nature. (In the example Ulysses posted, note the wonderful simulated cracks on the blade).

Shiebler's Homeric style appeared not only on flatware, but also on hollowware (mugs, creamer/sugar sets, etc.), jewelry, and "novelties" such as buttonhooks, small boxes, cigar lighters, etc. All of these objects are desirable, though it seems that the market for Medallion may have cooled a little over the past couple years.

I do not know what the W & H pattern was called, nor if it was full-line. I have seen a variety of servers, and some other pieces like cocktail forks, coffee spoons, tea spoons, and flat knives. W & H also made Medallion jewelry and probably novelties.

I think the weirdest medallion pattern from the 1880s revival was made by John Vansant of Phlidadelphia. The pattern I refer to features a stamped medallion(s) and, covering the rest of the surface, tiny & bizarre stamped designs like flies, crescent moons, snakes, and geometric shapes. Sometimes there is a hammered finish and sometimes not.