Essex by Towle

What a lovely solid looking pattern. Essex was introduced by Towle in 1890. The terminal has a motif of scrolls, the stem is slim and delicate, leading into a beautiful shoulder on the different pieces.

Sugar Spoon  (5 7/8 inches)




Old Style Pickle Fork (5 7/8 inches)



Cream Ladle  (5 inches)

Cheese Plane

The Cheese Plane is another cheese serving piece. Most have a stainless plane. You will see that all the examples I show are from Towle. Other companies list the piece in the patterns, however I could not find an example of it. I noted that the oldest of these Towle patterns only go back to the mid-1930's which make me think this may be a piece added later on since Towle has patterns dating back to the 1800's. 

Candlelight by Towle (8 3/4 inches)



French Provincial by Towle (9 1/8 inches)



Old Lace by Towle (9 1/4 inches)



Fontana by Towle ( 5/8 inches)

Contour by Towle

I generally prefer the older more decorative patterns, however, I thought it worth my time to share this pattern with you. Contour was introduced by Towle in 1950. One  source said it was 

"the first American sterling pattern to manifest post-World War II organic modernist design and the only production-line American flatware included in the Museum of Modern Art's Good Design exhibitions." I did find some discrepancy among sources as to who was the designer. One source said it was designed by Collin B. Richmond and another gave the design credit to Robert J. King.

The design is quite clean and simple, for whomever credit should go to. 

Bon Bon Spoon (4 7/8 inches)

Short Handle Pickle/Olive Fork  (6 1/4 inches)

Hollow Handle Knife  (8 3/4 inches)

Pierced Table Serving Spoon  (8 3/4 inches)