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posted 08-09-2002 09:14 PM            

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We acquired this piece recently. It looks exactly like ONC's Oak Leaf but we didn't recognize the mark. We sent the image to ONC and this was their reply:

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The picture that you e-mailed is a patten we have called Oakleaf. The flatware piece pictured looks like it may have been made by the original silversmith G. Gustafson. Old Newbury Crafters acquired this pattern in 1965 from Mr. Gustafson's widow. Little is known of this silversmith, we know he was trained in Sweden. Perhaps someone in your forum may know of him.

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posted 08-09-2002 11:39 PM            

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Darlings book Chicago Metalsmiths gives a good account of Knut L. Gustafson of Chicago. He founded the Chicago Silver Company in the early 20's. A Swedish immigrant, he came to the states in 1906 and settled in Chicago around 4 years later. He introduce the Oak Leaf pattern in the late 30's and pattented it in the mid 40's. The Oak Leaf design is created with a swage. A very clean design. The hallmark on your piece is for Gustafson Craft which was located in Arlington Heights from 1945-64.
A wonderful piece of handwrought flatware.

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posted 08-11-2002 11:05 AM            

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So many books, so little shelf space! Thanks, Fred for pointing out that Gustafson is in the Darling book. Sure enough, I looked at the book and there was coverage of Gustafson and even a photo of him making a NASCAR trophy!

We know that the Oak Leaf pattern is being made by Old Newbury Crafters. What about his Nordic pattern?

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posted 07-08-2005 03:16 AM            

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That is a nice fork. I recently got this one by ONC and they do look very similar.

asheland

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posted 07-11-2005 09:43 AM            

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A little side story on the Oakleaf pattern. I don't know all the details, but in the 60s an effort was made to make a version of the Oakleaf with the tip design on both backside as well as front side. Perhaps this was a request of a customer or a store, but we had castings of just the tip design done with the design on both sides. These were to be soldered onto the end of the forged piece of flatware and the resulting pattern was to be called Petal. It never went anywhere, probably because it didn't look very good, but we still have some of those castings kicking around and occasionally get an inquiry about the pattern. So apparently it was offered for a time.

As I've mentioned before, ONC's information confused the first names of Gustavson and Anderson. That is why your response from us mentioned G. Gustavson when it should have been a K for the first initial.

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posted 07-11-2005 09:13 PM            

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I was apparently suffering from brain fade when I posted the last entry. I spelled Gustafson with a v. Dress me up and you can't take me out in public.

I've not spoken to Swift Barnes about just why he purchased the Oakleaf pattern. It may simply have been that it was available and a proven seller.

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posted 07-12-2005 12:02 AM            

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Are the Oakleaf dies cut by hand?

asheland

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posted 07-12-2005 01:29 AM            

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Well, sometimes Gustafson is spelled Gustavson. Or more accurately, Gustaf is spelled Gustav. There seems to be an interchangiblity for the two letters in Swedish. I suspect the 'v' use is older, but I am not sure.

We are once again looking at Chicago and the Skandinavian silversmith issues. Which seems to come up fairly regularly here. Is there any specific research on the Chicago Swedes, Norewegians, Danes and Finns as silversmiths? I mean beyond the mentions in overall books on Chicago silver? Has anyone dug around in the archives of SveaFörsamling or Svitthiod? This looks to be an area ripe for research.

It seems that we over and over again run into the presence of these smiths. And their work. Yet they are not treated very fully in any silver research.

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posted 07-12-2005 06:15 PM            

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Asheland, The oakleaf dies do appear to have been cut by hand as they are a bit irregular and they do not all precisely match oneanother. Nowadays the EDM cut dies are very true and accurate.

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posted 07-12-2005 10:14 PM            

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I figured they were done by hand, as the two Oakleaf pieces I have are a little different side-by-side. What is EDM? Are those Oakleaf dies done locally? I assume they must be older and used frequently.

asheland

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posted 07-13-2005 06:08 PM            

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EDM stands for Electrical Discharge Machining. The machine follows a design or perhaps a computer program, to move a stylus from which a very powerful electrical spark is projected. The spark cuts away the metal, creating the die design. As I understand it, no polishing of the design is required, as the cutting spark is that fine and precise. For our Windsor Shell pattern, we've had several dies made over the past few years and quality can vary, depending, I think, greatly upon whether the machine operator sets it up carefully or whether the program properly details depths and contrasts.

The oakleaf dies are, as far as I know, the original ones from Gustafson. They have held up well to the pounding of striking the design. The reason that we've had to replace a number of the shell dies but not the Oakleaf is that we use heavier stock for the Oakleaf, so the strike to put the design in the silver is not as violent as for the shell pattern, which uses lighter stock.

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