Silver Pieces - The Strange and Peculiar: Candlelight

The Story Behind this Blog

Being from the South, Silver is a very big part of my life. It doesn't have anything to do with wealth. Although those with more money - old money, tend to have more of it. New money tend not to spend their money on Silver. They do not have the appreciation for the warmth of the metal, the beauty of the patina, the story it tells of the generations past who have used it. A true southern girl comes of age when she chooses her silver pattern, long before she chooses her mate. If she is smart, she chooses that of her mother, grandmother, or favorite great aunt who in their benevolence will pass their silver on to her. It is the pieces in those sets, the pieces on our tables, along with the pieces we find in the corners of the displays in antique stores that prompted me to start this blog. They are beautiful, they are odd, but what are they, and what in the hell do you do with them?

Showing posts with label Candlelight. Show all posts

Monday, April 23, 2018

Bottle Opener

The sterling Bottle Opener is a very practical piece. It up-scales your bar anytime you are entertaining.

Rondo by Gorham (1951) (5 1/2 inches)

Du Barry by International (1968) (7 1/4 inches)

Silver Masterpiece by International (1970) (6 1/2 inches)

Candlelight by Towle (1934) (5 3/4 inches)

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Top 50 Most Popular Sterling Flatware Patterns of the 20th Century

Based on the book, Silverware of the 20th Century, the Top 250 Patterns, the following is the list of the top 50 patterns (in alphabetical order). Two caveats here: this is silverware of the 20th century and there were some lovely patterns of the 19th century and this is the First Edition of this book, published in 1997.

More interesting is that out of these 50 patterns, 2 are stainless (ST) and 5 are silver plate (SP), leaving 43 sterling (SS)

Any way the top 50 most popular patterns (in alphabetical order) are:

Buttercup by Gorham
Candlelight by Towle
Chantilly by Gorham
Classic Rose by Reed and Barton
Coronation by Onieda/Heirloom (SP)
Daffodil by International (SP)
Damask Rose by Onieda/Heirloom
Eternally Yours by International (SP)
Fairfax by Gorham
First Love by International (SP)
Francis I by Reed and Barton
French Provincial by Towle
Grand Baroque by Wallace
Joan of Arc by International
King Richard by Towle
Old Master by Towle
Prelude by International
Remembrance by International (SP)
Repousse by Kirk Stieff
Rondo by Gorham
Rose Point by Wallace
Royal Danish by International
Shelley by Onieda/Heirloom (ST)
Strasbourg by Gorham
Venetia by Onieda/Heirloom (ST)

Monday, October 13, 2014

Candlelight by Towle

Harold E. Nock designed Candlelight for Towle in 1934. He also designed Royal Windsor (1935), Virginia Carvel (1919), Rambler Rose (1937), and Chased Diana (1925). This pattern has the lines of a more modern pattern. A plain straight panel runs from the shoulder to the tip of the terminal, along both sides of which is a delicate design of leaves and small blossoms.

Iced Teaspoon (8 1/8 inches)

Ice Cream Fork (5 5/8 inches)

Small Tomato Server (6 1/2 inches)

Hollow Handle Cheese Pick (7 3/4 inches)

Friday, March 7, 2014

Baby Knife

The Baby Knife is one of the three piece baby set (knife, spoon, and fork) found in most patterns. Usually they are just a miniature version of the adult piece. However, you will see the baby piece tends to have a fatter handle. These are not to be confused with the "Youth" pieces which are larger than the "Baby" pieces, but usually just smaller in size than the adult pieces, not altered for smaller hands like the "Baby" pieces are.

Chantilly by Gorham (5 3/4 inches)
Baby Knife With Stainless Blade in the Chantilly (sterling,1950,"gorham") pattern by Gorham Silver

Lady Diana by Towle ( 6 1/4 inches)
Baby Knife With Stainless Blade in the Lady Diana (sterling,1928) pattern by Towle

La Salle by Dominick and Haff (5 7/8 inches)
Baby Knife With Stainless Blade in the La Salle (sterling, 1928) pattern by Dominick & Haff

Candlelight by Towle (6 1/4 inches)
Baby Knife With Stainless Blade in the Candlelight (sterling,1934) pattern by Towle

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

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)

Friday, September 3, 2010

English Servers

An odd piece, the English Server, is designed to serve everything from steamed vegetables to baked potatoes to sliced meat. It can also be used as aid in slicing small hams and roasts. The piece looks a lot like the silver Baked Potato Fork (See December 2, 2009), but it is a different piece.

Athene/Crescendo by Whiting (7 1/4 inches)