The Silver Antiques Insider

A Suggestion For Your Silver Antique-Collecting Bookworm

If you’re looking for a great book on the history of Tiffany & Co. and other American silversmiths for your favorite antique silver collector this holiday season, I highly recommend the work of author Charles H. Carpenter Jr. One particular book, Tiffany Silver, sits in the library here at Nelson and Nelson Antiques and has been an invaluable resource. It’s a beautiful, thoroughly researched, and incredibly detailed history of America’s most renowned silver company that Carpenter co-wrote with his wife Mary Grace Carpenter.

To learn more about Charles H. Carpenter Jr.'s own fascinating life, his work, and his collection of fine art, check out this sample from Charles H. Carpenter Jr.: The Odyssey of a Collector, an autobiography published by the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Squirrel Away Treasures In An Antique Silver Spice Box

Today, the first day of December, was beautifully sunny and crisp here in New York. I took a walk through Central Park, and what caught my attention more than the sweaty joggers and serene tourists was the all-around frenetic squirrel activity. These little guys are busy collecting and storing for the winter--on such a lovely day like this, perhaps they know more about the forecast ahead than we do?

For the collector--and storer--in your life, consider this antique silver German spice box in the form of our furry parkland friend. Perfect for squirreling away your favorite treasures!

This unique and unusual 800 silver spice box is imaginatively and expertly crafted in the form of a squirrel on a log. The squirrel is perched daintily atop a beautifully detailed log which has been encircled all around the base by intricately made leaves, ferns and foliage. His facial features are extremely well defined and his nicely detailed ears are alertly pricked up, as is his splendidly plumed bushy tail which rises majestically behind him in an elegantly curving shape. The fur on his body has been meticulously rendered and his paws have been beautifully finished with exquisite precision. His head lifts off revealing a hollow body into which spices or condiments can be placed. The entire piece is in excellent condition throughout with a soft and pleasing patina which nicely accentuates the crispness and clarity of all the decorative elements. The base of the log has been stamped in two places with German hallmarks. For more information, click here.

A Sterling Holiday Sale At Nelson And Nelson Antiques

Just in time for the gift-buying season, Nelson and Nelson Antiques would like to announce their Holiday Sale, featuring 25% off every item under $10,000 and 30% every item over $10,000. Details on the sale can be found here.

Nelson and Nelson wishes you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving. In the spirit of the season, enjoy this intoxicating antique Reed and Barton sterling silver punch bowl, an exceptional estate-condition piece that's perfect for this festive time of the year!

This magnificent punch bowl by Reed and Barton of Taunton, Mass. was made circa 1900. The bowl is fully marked with Reed and Barton’s maker’s mark, sterling standard mark, pattern #270A, and a French touchmark indicating that at some point the bowl was imported into France. The bowl is of circular bombe form, raised on a circular pedestal foot, and the rim of the bowl and foot are applied with a cast and chased grapevine border. The grapevine is finely hand chased onto the bowl in a continuous manner emanating from the chased rims. The decoration shows traces of hand hammering highlighting the vine motif. This is a finely executed work of art and would look beautiful holding an impressive floral centerpiece.

Antique Silver Scandal!

The buying and selling of antique silver generally constitutes a friendly connoisseur transaction all around, but when you're the Canadian government and you've offloaded almost $100,000 worth of antiques for a measly $3,934, it's bound to attract a little press attention.

The red-faced officials of Rideau Hall, the official residence and workplace of every governor general of Canada since 1867, cleaned out a storeroom and put "tablecloths, ashtrays and Christmas decorations"--along with valuable antique china and silver that included three sterling flower baskets inscribed to the Duke of York that were on loan from Buckingham Palace--on the Crown Assets government disposal website for auction. Canada's Governor General is the representative of the British Crown in Canada. The government originally sold the baskets, which had been presented as gifts to Queen Elizabeth's grandparents, for $532, and paid $50,000 to buy them back.

Antique Silver Americana For Your Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving is only a week away and some diligent hostesses (not me, of course), have planned their menus, ordered their turkeys, are already busy polishing their antique silver serving dishes and flatware for this most American of holidays.

Just as we owe our national day of turkey, family, and football to a bedraggled group of 17th-century English religious separatists, the silverware fad originally came to America by way of European colonists. By the turn of the 20th century, wealthy Americans, and even some of the middle class, were amassing collections of sterling silverware that rivaled those of their British contemporaries.

The silversmiths of Gorham, in Rhode Island, have been producing magnificent silver items since 1831, when struggling jeweler Jabez Gorham began making "coin silver" spoons--that is, flatware produced from European silver coins. Jabez's son John expanded Gorham into a prominent company that dominated the American decorative silver market from the late 19th to the 20th century. One of the largest silver service collections in American history--a 740-piece set commissioned in the late 19th century by Colonel Henry Jewett Furber, the president of Universal Life Insurance Company of New York--was manufactured by Gorham. Gorham silver flatware has also graced the tables of three different U.S. Presidents: Lincoln, Grant, and George H.W. Bush.

Considering a classic piece of Americana for your Thanksgiving table? This charming, rare, and very functional antique silver and mixed-metal crumber, manufactured by Gorham circa 1880, is a classy way to scoop up those wayward bits of pumpkin pie at the end of your holiday feast.

Featuring an all-over hand hammered surface in the Japanese taste, the shaped rectangular crumb catcher is highly reflective and has a wonderful texture. The hammered handle also has an applied mixed metal leaf, branch, and berry motif. The reverse of the handle has been stamped with the identifying marks of the Gorham Manufacturing Co., and the words Sterling & Other Metals. It measures approximately 12 3/4" long, and is in excellent condition with a wonderful texture and crisp decoration. For more information on this unique piece, click here.

Antique Silver Plates: Safer Than Your Old China

Before you pull out your your great-aunt Gretchen's china for the holidays, you may want to take a look at this article on how old china may be toxic to eat off of. If you're in the mood for a grand antique dining spread, sterling silver is the better choice. Antique sterling silver is inert and food safe, and makes a marvelous statement on a festive table! Nelson and Nelson has a beautiful collection of antique silver holloware dinner plates to choose from, including this beautiful Georgian antique silver plate collection circa 1925.

This set was made by the International Silver Company and is comprised of 8 dinner plates and 8 bread-and-butter plates, each in the Georgian Style, with applied cast and chased shell, shield and gadroon border. This set, in excellent condition, is typical of many sets of dinner and bread plates produced in the first half of the 20th century in that it is designed in the style of the late 18th century. This set is very versatile in that the plates can be used in many other ways: the dinner plates can be used individually to serve hors d’oeuvres or pies and desserts, while the bread-and-butter plates can be used for individual hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and petit fours.The diameter of the dinner plate is 10 1/2 inches and the diameter of the bread-and-butter Plate is 6 1/2 inches. The total weight of the set is 224 Troy ounces.

A Sterling Silver Cabbage Fit For A King

Whenever I stop in to the Nelson and Nelson gallery, I always take time to admire the beautiful Buccellati silver centerpiece featured prominently near the entrance. I've probably never taken so much time to ogle a cabbage, but what a cabbage it is! Weighing in at a substantial 70 troy ounces, this unusual sterling silver decorative item is an eye-catcher, and would make a marvelous, whimsical addition to a fall holiday table.

This is a magnificent 20th century sterling silver centerpiece made by the highly esteemed silversmiths at Buccellati in Italy, and was originally owned by the late popular singer Luther Vandross and shown in photographs taken at his home published in Ebony magazine in 1989. The centerpiece, in the form of a large figural cabbage, has two open leaves that cleverly reveal a large hammered interior that offers a uniquely different way of displaying or serving fruits and vegetables. The exterior skillfully emulates the leaves of a cabbage, complete with a textured outer surface enhanced by the addition by heavy, clearly defined veins. The interior shows the signs of hand hammering together with the imprint of the veins on the outer surface. The two leaves ripple artfully at the opening and curve outwards to reveal a bright shiny surface which contrasts pleasingly with the textured outer surface. Four small protective feet have been applied to the underside to prevent damage to the owner’s table surface.  As befitting the renowned Bucellati Company, the workmanship is of the very highest quality and the design of the piece is ingenious and highly imaginative in its creativity. It is in perfect condition with a softly lustrous patina and clear, crisp definition on all the organic decoration. It has been clearly stamped with the words Buccellati, Italy and the number 925 indicating the silver as being 925/1000 parts fine. This piece would be of special interest to all connoisseurs of first class 20th century sterling silver and also to any admirer of the late Luther Vandross.

Accessorize Your Stogie With An Antique Silver Cigar Cutter

Continuing with last post's theme on gentlemanly vices, what could go better with a fine Scotch than an even finer cigar? Nelson and Nelson offers an array of antique cigar cutters--from the classic to the exotic--in a range of price points. For our full collection of antique cigar cutters, please click here.

A classic Austrian antique silver ivory cigar cutter circa 1900 features a figural boar’s head deeply etched in silver to perfectly recreate the coarse, brittle fur of the boar. The boar's snout becomes the ideal insert for the cigar’s tip as the hinged cutter bears down from above. A small button underneath releases the cutter. Fully hallmarked and stamped with the G.A.S. maker’s mark. It has a fabulous patina and is in excellent condition.

This is truly a cigar aficionado’s delight! A sterling silver box with a cigar-cutting mechanism has a small button that when pressed releases and reveals a match box behind the match striker plaque below the button. Fully hallmarked and in very good condition, the box was made in London by Cooke & Kelvey in 1916 and retailed in Calcutta.

A Sterling Silver Toast To Man's Best Friend

Now that it's November and there's a crisp nip in the air, there's nothing better than a little nip to warm yourself while on a stroll outdoors with man's best friend. These great dog-themed accessories are the perfect accompaniment to your next autumn expedition, or a wonderful addition to your antique silver canine collection.

This sterling silver liquor flask is engraved with a delightful design of two Scottish Terrriers and a banner that reads “We’re both Scotch,” surrounded by a thistle and branches. The opening is secured with a hinged mechanism. The antique silver flask measures 7 in. in height and 5 ½ in. in width, and was made by Gorham Mfg. Corp. of Providence, Rhode Island, circa 1920. In excellent condition, it is fully hallmarked on the underside of the hinge and has a lovely patina.

This is a handsome antique silver stirrup cup made in Germany at the turn of the twentieth century. The tapering cylindrical shaped cup, traditionally used to toast before a hunt, supports a large figural head of a spaniel that has been realistically modeled with long, downward-pointed floppy ears, a medium-sized snout, and small, pert nose. The dog’s handsome shaped head also includes two yellow-colored glass eyes. The silver cup has wonderful engraving on the body that consists of a band of strapwork decoration with leafy scrolls and the bust of a gentleman; the opposing side features a shield cartouche with the monogram EH. It is in excellent condition with its original gold wash interior and is marked on the rim of one ear with German hallmarks. This antique German stirrup cup is a very handsome example of traditional hunting silver and would make a unique gift for a sportsman or dog lover!

Diversifying Your Investments With Antique Silver

The International Herald Tribune has a special report on how collectibles, including antique silver, can be an important component in diversifying your investments:

Since collectibles markets tend to move in slower and longer cycles than markets for stocks, bonds and real estate, collectibles can provide healthy balance — if you already have the financial assets to meet your savings goals.

Do you love it? Investment advisers warn against getting emotional about stocks, and for good reason. But in collectibles, infatuation is actually a strategy for success: The most valuable collections are built by people who take pleasure in them. So if you are crazy about, say, antique silver cocktail shakers, go for it.

If you're indeed a fan of antique silver cocktail shakers, Nelson and Nelson has a wonderful example that perfectly captures the spirit of the roaring twenties!

This fun and unique sterling silver cocktail shaker set was made by the Gorham Manufacturing Company and the silversmithing firm WM. B. Kerr & Co. of Newark, New Jersey in 1925 (Kerr & Co. was acquired by Gorham at the time these pieces were made). It includes a sterling silver cocktail shaker, tray, and twelve shot glasses. The cocktail shaker, in a classic shape, has a tapering cylindrical body with a gently curved shoulder that supports a short neck and discreet curved spout with a built-in strainer. The flat, tapering handle is secured from the rim of the neck to the lower body of the shaker, creating a strong, modern silhouette. The detachable circular lid, with a pierced sidewall for straining, has a wide button finial that conforms nicely to the hand and provides excellent stability. The lid also has a small silver tab to secure it to the spout/strainer. The tray has a plain, circular design with a deep rim which allows the twelve simple, cylindrical glasses to be arranged securely inside its perimeter. The glasses have a gold-wash interior and the center of each piece in the set has been engraved with a whimsical faux-crest featuring a rooster with a cocktail glass perched in one claw above a banner reading “Here’s how.” For more information on this charming set, click here.