posted 11-28-2001 12:39 AM              

A few days ago my husband and I were moving some things around the house, and we came across the bundle of silverware we inherited a couple of years ago from his family. Until then, we had not paid it any attention, tossed it in a drawer, barely remembering we had it.

Of course it was all black and spotty when we rediscovered it, and as I "polished" a spoon with my t-shirt, we wondered how old it is. Since all pieces came in a plain cloth wrapper with the name of the jeweler on it, I though I'll get on the net and see if I come up with something.

After hours of searching ... I was nowhere. Of course it didn't help much not knowing a thing about flatware, let alone silver. Pattern, marks, huh? Hey, it's easier to find instructions on how to assemble a car engine! Helplessly lost, I came across an expert appraiser service who promised, for a relatively small fee, could help me determine what I got here. I had to wait days to find out however, and I wasn't about to stop.

So finally, I came across this site, after shifting my search terms to the manufacturing part. Hoping not to intrude on some elite turf, I've posted my little message. I wasn't even sure if it was really silver or something thinly plated.

Seems like my note barely hit the server, Brent sent a message back, asking me questions or if I had a picture. But more important, he thought the little "J with the deer in it" on the bottom was the mark of Towle Silversmiths and that whatever pattern it is was from around 1922.

Pattern? I read that somewhere! Towle is still in business? There got to be a Towle.com or something. I was elated! Back into my history folder I went. Thanks to the pictures on the "800-pound gorilla of pattern matchers" site (Brent's words) and a fork on my desk, I found what looks like my set: Pattern # 1922, Lady Constance. Talk about a days work.

Of course, I didn't exactly wanted to take my word for it, but Brent's message the next morning confirmed it. It was this lady indeed. And not only did Brent answer all my other naive questions, he also offered to help me find some additional pieces, since selling never crossed our mind. I'm gonna get me some polish and take the advice I saw posted elsewhere in this forum: I will use it.

So, again "Thank You" Brent!!! Without you, I'd still be looking for relatives of the dead jeweler ...

Oh ... The "expert" appraisal I've requested, let's just say I got it. It basically stated you have silver flatware, shine it well, $$$ and insure it. No id, no pattern reference, nada. Just "we can help you do that." Yeah, I bet ...