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Unger Brothers was the proponent of the art nouveau. Indeed every piece they made is a collectors item today. While I have been partial to the beautiful wispy ladies of their "He Loves Me" , "Envangeline", "The Wave" and "Dawn" patterns that did find their way to tableware, these patterns were never made into a full dinner setting of flatware. In fact there are only 5 different Unger patterns available in complete place settings. Douvain is certainly the most "Nouveau" and seems to consist of ghouls and goblins. I would love to know the inspiration behind the pattern. It is certainly one of the most "collectible" patterns of the period.

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Dating

Unger made art nouveau flatware from 1900 to 1910, and Douvain appeared in 1904. That makes only about 6 years worth of production available. This is not Chantilly. The company went into airplane parts during WWI and the dies were never sold, as nouveau became old hat.

Pieces Available

According to the 1904 Unger Catalogue (Eden Sterling) just about anything one can imagine is available. Shown Below are:

Size     My Cost      Notes 5 O'Clock Spoon 5"     $40.00 Flat Butter Spreader 5 7/8"     $75.00 had to have it! Teaspoon 5 7/8"     $30.00 Oval Soup 7"     $65.00 or maybe a salad? Dinner Knife 9 1/2"   $125.00 whatever it takes                    Dinner Fork 7 3/8"     $59.00 stole that Luncheon Fork 6 3/4"     $90.00 averaged out Salad Fork 6 1/8"   $135.00 no comment

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The usual. Dinner Knife, salad fork, flat butter.

Comments

Mysteries about this pattern are where to find it, and I would love to know how it was dreamed up. Certainly no place setting collection is complete without Unger Douvain. Certainly no place setting collection is complete without Unger Douvain.