posted 03-25-2006 01:02 PM            

I have enjoyed so much taking the time to cruise through past posts on these forums - such interesting topics and reminiscences! One of many that I've especially enjoyed is Favorite silver? - page 1 and page 2 in the Silver Stories forum. Of course that got me thinking about my own favorites, and though it's almost impossible to drill down to one, this little pot (hot chocolate? cafe au lait?) is up in the top ten! It's 6" tall and 5" spout tip to back of handle, and on my postal scale it weighs 13.3 ounces. I'm not even sure it's silver, though it certainly tarnishes and polishes like silver. But I love the graceful shape and the pretty engraving.

These marks are on the bottom of the pot and the bottom of one of the four feet.

I'd love to hear what anyone can suggest about it; it was a present years ago from an aunt.

posted 03-30-2006 06:32 PM            

in fact this was my first piece of silver that I bought, and it set the hook but good! I bought it at an auction, and I was shocked that I was the only bidder, glad but surprised. No idea why others did not see the beauty that was there for any to see.

It is marked Hartford Silver plate Quadruple plate on the underside and on the opposite side it has 3595 scratched on. It stands 7" and is 10" across, without the handle up. The pattern is 2 birds and a crescent moon and flowers, it is repeated on both sides of the bowl.

I love it and both of my daughters got dibs on it, oh my.

posted 04-07-2006 02:10 PM            

A couple of years ago my mother-in-law gave me the piece that set the hook for me, a server about 10 inches long, shaped like a quarter note with the business end flat and gilded. The pattern was all flower and ruffle, very girly. The mystery server had been a gift to her from an elderly friend of her parents. She had been too shy to ask anything about it. She had never used it. Would I like to have it? Of course I would, and I would find out all about it and let her know.

The maker was easy to find, Wood and Hughes. The pattern, Louvre, took a little longer. The retailer, G W Chatterton, was a jeweler in Springfield IL. But I couldn't find out what the darned thing was! I wish I had known about this forum then. Or maybe better not because I looked at a lot of silver and talked to dozens of people. Perhaps the hook was in the search. Anyway, I eventually found a copy of Osterberg's flatware book in the library and there it was on page 175, an oyster server. I use it for pastry.

posted 04-07-2006 04:23 PM            

This is one of my favorites. It's a buckwheat cake server. The back is stamped JP Patent 1857. I assume the patent is for the Olive-like pattern. I like it because the engraving looks all hand done to me and the two halves of the circle are different from each other. That makes it interesting to look at even though over the top. It is also very usable and I use it to serve cake slices,etc. I keep meaning to make some buckwheat cakes.

posted 04-07-2006 10:34 PM            

Most current is a toss up... I rediscovered one of my Coin Mounted - Claret Jugs by Hall and Hewson, Federal Style Cut / Etched - Crystal, very thin, will post picture later. Also just purchased a 18th century Wedding Beaker form Norway (see thread in Continental forum)... But today and went in "halves" with a friend in a group of coin 13 pieces he got 12 including the southern spoons, but I got a Joseph Edwards (Boston Mass) Spoon, should get it some time next week will post Pictures then...

So favorites? ... Everything in my collection...

"Wife of Smaug, says should be a real good garage / yard sale when I go.... 2 for a Quarter... !

"Smaug"

posted 04-08-2006 12:35 AM            

And I love that so many are joining in with your favorites - as IJP said, "Keep it coming, folks"!

posted 04-08-2006 11:14 PM            

Well, since so many are sharing, I might as well throw my two in for good measure. I have no family pieces so my favorites tend to be my best finds. The first is a set of candlesticks I bought at a local tag sale a couple of weeks ago. They are interchangeable being either a bud vase, bud vase/candle holder, of triple candle holder. They are from mexico and I love the playfullness of them. I paid a paltry sum.

The second is another great find. It is a fruit bowl made by S Kirk and Son. It is 9.5 inches in diameter and 2.5 inches high. It weighs over 2 pounds!! Again, this is a local tag sale find from a few years ago. Kind of embarrassing.......UMMMMM The problem with this bowl is that some previous owner attempted to clean it with what appears to be steel wool!! It is full of disgusting scratches but the quality still screams out.

In regard to Scott's new collectors thread, this bowl is what got me hooked. I am still fairly young and in my spare time, go to sales to find things to resell you-know-where. While researching this bowl, I came across this site and became so enamored by the enthusiasm that the members exhibited for silver that I started to view the bowl in a different light. It is my opinion that, at least in my case, the driving factor that has propelled me into silver collecting was the prospect of profiting from it which has morphed into something contrary to my original plan. The more young people that we can turn on to the profit side of silver, the more that will eventually become collectors in their own right.

posted 04-09-2006 06:07 PM            

I didn't make the connection right away, but when I visited Charleston late last year, I saw a nearly identical set by Samuel Kirk's firm, and I realized that this example of Schultz's work drew much influence from Kirk's precedents of architectural repoussé silver, even perhaps fifty to eighty years after its first use (and here I'm only guessing... If any of you care to enlighten me differently, please do).

I believe it only reinforces the notion that classic design will always be attractive.

posted 04-13-2006 03:20 AM            

Cheryl

posted 04-14-2006 09:14 PM            

Here is my current favorite of the "all silver" variety, a Christening cup made by Charles Fox in 1837. I'm sorry the picture doesn't do it justice. The interior of the cup still has a trace of the original gilt. I don't know if the flowers are water lilies, mums, peonies, or ?
Jo

posted 04-15-2006 10:54 PM            

"The maker was easy to find, Wood and Hughes. The pattern, Louvre, took a little longer. The retailer, G W Chatterton, was a jeweler in Springfield IL. But I couldn't find out what the darned thing was!"

Your favorite piece is lovely! It might be a solid mustard spoon??? A pattern matching service has this Wood and Hughes pattern with a mustard spoon listed but one that they make up. However, the diagram of it resembles your "quarter note" shape.

posted 04-16-2006 10:23 AM            

Welcome to the forum. The shape and gilding might point to mustard spoon, but you would really have to like mustard to want a server that big. I think Osterberg is right about it being for oysters.

Thanks for the pics, Smaug, though the words, "etched crystal," and "very thin" make me as nervous as Hyacinth's next door neighbor. I like the idea of a wedding cup that makes cheerful music. It really is a wonderful piece.

I can't figure out what your flower is either, Jo. Nothing I can think of has that beautiful petal form in combination with strap like leaves. I don't wonder that cup is your favorite. It would be a star of anyone's collection.

posted 04-29-2006 09:58 AM            

The pictures above show two of my favorite ladles, one with Joseph Bouju's mark and a second with no mark. These ladles have a similar look about them and are about the same in length. The Bouju ladle is 15.5" long while the unmarked ladle is 15" long. They also have some very interesting differences. The Bouju ladle has a deep circular bowl while the unmarked ladle has an medium depth oval bowl, the Bouju ladle has a large arch drop and the unmarked has none, the Bouju ladle has a pointed shoulder while the unmarked ladle simply flares out where the handle joins the bowl and finally the Bouju has a faint midrib on the reverse side of the handle while the unmarked is completely flat. I admire both ladles because of their long slender handles and the gradual ending of the fiddle portion into the remainder of the shaft of the handle. I think it is this design feature that gives them a graceful and an almost fluid feel.

Joseph Bouju arrived in St. Louis in 1812, the same year that Missouri became a territory and according to Norman Mack, author of the book "Missouri's Silver Age", almost immediately left St. Louis for Mine-a-Breton (now Potosi, Missouri). There is some evidence that he made silver for the Indian trade while in Mine-a-Breton. He returned to St. Louis in 1817 some four years before Missouri became a state and remained in St. Louis until his death in 1847. I really do not know who had a hand in making the unmarked ladle; however I suspect from the uncomplicated construction that it was made in a regional town, close to the same time period as the Bouju ladle.

Both ladles are excellent in serving soups and may have started their life as such, but they also work well for punch. I might add that one of my favorite punches is a milk punch from the River Roads II cookbook. Simply blend one part whole milk, two parts vanilla ice cream and one part bourbon. Put in a freezer the evening before serving and remove about an hour before serving. Sprinkle with nutmeg if desired when serving. I have found out from experience that it is wise to make a little more than I think is necessary, as most people seem to come back often for refills.

posted 04-30-2006 11:40 AM            

I neglected to provide a picture of the monogram on the unmarked ladle and it is now pictured above.

Swarter, thanks for reminding me of the earlier thread as I had forgotten about it. The unmarked ladle was found in Tennessee while the Bouju came from Missouri. It is interesting that a Frenchman would pick up the style that seemed to have an Eastern connection. Ruth Hunter Roach in her book on St. Louis Silversmiths has a picture of a similar ladle with Bouju's mark, but with what looks like a squared shoulder. Deborah J. Binder in her pamphlet on St. Louis silver also shows a similar Bouju ladle so this form was must have been one of Bouju's favorites.

Mrs. Hunter in her article on Bouju does not really state where Bouju came from, but does indicate that some marked Bouju spoons were owned by a Virginian who moved to Kentucky and then to Ohio. The editors of The Crescent City Silver indicate that Bouju was in New Orleans in 1807 to 1809, but no one puts him in Missouri until 1812.

The movement of silversmith and styles certainly is interesting.

posted 05-01-2006 10:00 PM            

Is it my imagination or does the second one have one part of the bowl longer then the other. I mean, the handle is not centered on the bowl but offset on purpose? I have a salt/mustard spoon where one side of the bowl is longer then the other. I haven't seen anything written about this and have wondered why. I guess it would assist in pouring or shaking something that direction.

posted 05-02-2006 11:26 AM            

I will close this tread so Favorite pieces - Part 2 is now where someone may post.