Berry Spoon (8 7/8 inches)
Butter Spreader
Cheese Scoop (5 7/8 inches)
Mustard Ladle (4 3/4 inches)
Monday, July 11, 2011
Milburn Rose by Westmorland
Not a particularly old pattern, Milburn Rose was introduced by Westmorland in 1940. The only decoration is the flat rectangular terminal that sports a rose motif surrounded by leaf embellishments.
Berry Spoon (8 7/8 inches)
Butter Spreader
Cheese Scoop (5 7/8 inches)
Mustard Ladle (4 3/4 inches)
Berry Spoon (8 7/8 inches)
Butter Spreader
Cheese Scoop (5 7/8 inches)
Mustard Ladle (4 3/4 inches)
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Milburn Rose, like other Westmorland patterns, was an attempt to market sterling flatware to the working class. It was peddled door to door and paid for in monthly installments. Workmanship is inferior to most other patterns and weight is lighter. I would recommend Rose Point as a higher quality alternative to Milburn Rose.
ReplyDeleteI love my Milburn rose silver, I actually have two other silverware sets and this is my favorite. Far from being flimsy, it is sturdier than Autumn leaf and a more comfortable hand weight than my Onslow by Tuttle. I particularly like that it was sold door to door, not for poor people, but to rural folks that wanted to set a nice table for their family. The pieces sold during ww2 have V for victory in Morse code on the back. The pattern is especially pretty if it has the the low areas of the pattern darkened or blacked. I consider Rosepoint a less attractive design, but eack of us has our own notions of beauty.
DeleteDeborah, thank you so much for the additional information on this pattern and your comments about your own patterns. Also I appreciate your reading the blog!
DeleteI suppose I am sentimental, but I enjoy the idea that the Westmorland patterns were made in the U.S. and sold to folks who might not be close to a store that sold silver. They bought what they could and hoped when the war was over they could use this silver for their husband or boyfriend that was off fighting.
DeleteI bought and handled many silver patterns before buying this one. It is very well made. I always have comments on what a pretty pattern it is.
Wow, what neat facts about the background of this pattern. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteI appreciate your additional information to the post on the pattern.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy it. I worked part-time in the silver dep't of a large, urban jewelry store when I was a graduate student many years ago. Now that I have retired, I have renewed my interest in silver. I have one four-place setting in each of two dozen patterns drawn from representative of all major eras except the modern. If you're going to collect something, why not choose something you enjoy which also has intrinsic value? If you are patient, and keep your eye on the internet, you will be surprised at the bargains you can sometimes pick up.
ReplyDeleteI was reared in a family of generations of southern women who revered sterling silver. You chose your pattern before your husband. But several years ago, given all the beautiful old patterns out there, I started working on assembling 12 place settings (as in all 56 pieces for each place) and all the serving pieces - trying to get each piece in a different pattern. It has turned into a labor of love. Our supper table is now set every evening with several different patterns at each place - (which my younger daughter refers to as eating on "dead people's silver"). I prefer monogrammed pieces because I feel they tell a story or hold secret. So my friends and family scour estate sales, auctions, yard sales, flea markets, and ebay searching for sterling pieces to add to my "set" as gifts. They are all vested in my "hobby". And because of it, many of them have pulled out their sterling or their mother's or great aunt's they inherited and polished it. Now they use it, enjoy it, and appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a real challenge puling all of these pieces together. I have only four-piece place settings, because it is so hard to find all the other pieces in many old patterns. Even finding the basic four pieces can sometimes be difficult (BTW - If you ever run across a knife in Lunt's "Adam," or a fork in Whiting's "Mandarin" please let me know). In art nouveau I have one setting in each of the following: R & B's "Love Disarmed" (only the spoon is from the 1899 minting;the other pieces are more recent), "Les Six Fleurs,";and "Trajan." I also have Dominick and Haff's "Labors of Cupid," Durgin's "Dauphin," Wallace's "Irian," and Alvin's "Bridal Rose" and "Old Orange Blossom." . . The irony in all of this is that we rarely entertain, since my wife does not enjoy it. So most of the use it gets is at a Sunday brunch for the two of us, or on family holidays.. However, I often polish it and play with it the way Silas Marner played with his gold, except that we live in Florida, so unlike Marner I have no hearth under which to hide it.
DeleteFrancis - I am pea green with envy! Labors of Cupid and Dauphin are on my wish list and I lust for an older piece of Love Disarmed! Bridal Rose is one of my patterns. I'll keep a look out for Mandarin and Adam. Finding 4 pieces in one pattern being so difficult is one reason I opted for the route of just different pieces. Also, that allowed me more patterns. Of course I have duplicates since some have come as gifts and some pieces were just deals I could not walk away from. Ah, but also unlike Marner you do not seem like a man betrayed by his friend who moves away to become a miser. Perhaps rather someone who takes joy in the beauty of a lost art and time that few appreciate these days.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter-in-law is interested in my hobby; I am sure she will appreciate the silver one day, as--I hope-- will her daughter (my granddaughter), . .
DeleteI am not a purist, For example, though I prefer the blunt-bladed knife, it impossible to find them in all the old patterns, since many have been replaced with modern blades. So I have a variety of blades in my collection. . .
It's possible to find a teaspoon in the original minting of "Love Disarmed," but it will probably run you $150-175. . .
As for monograms, I have nothing against them if they work well with the pattern. A higly ornate script on a very plain pattern, however, doesn't appeal to me.
Yes-sterling flatware is a true art form. Granted, the canvas is not large, and making sure that the each piece will function well limits what the artist can do. But it is still art.
My mother and her sister had "Chantilly" (didn't everyone?) My father's sisters had "Strasbourg" and "Fairfax." We had several pieces of Gorham's "Lancaster" which belonged to my father's mother, but that disappeared along with all of our wedding silver (R & B's "Spanish Baroque") in a robbery a few years ago. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, since the decision to replace it helped to rekindle my interest in sterling..