F Antoine Heller (1840 - 1904 )

We admire the different patterns of sterling flatware by the different companies, however we need to remember that someone had to create the designs. Each different pattern and, often, pieces within a pattern, are works of art. There are many better known sterling designers, such as J. Russell Price. My favorite, and one of the most famous, is Antoine Heller.

Heller was a French designer. His work was often of the Beaux Arts style. Heller patterns are very intricate in their design. An example, and probably his best known, is Mythologigue, that he created for Gorham. Introduced in 1895, of the 72 pieces in the pattern there are 24 unique designs.

But Heller started with Tiffany, where he was best known for Olympian (1878), another with multiple unique designs within the one pattern. Gorham was so impressed his work, they convinced him to leave Tiffany and design for Gorham.

While at Gorham he created Cluny (1880)



Coligni (1898)

Fountainbleau (1882)

St Cloud (1885)

Olympian for Tiffany

Olympian by Tiffany

Tiffany introduced their Olympian pattern in 1878. It was designed by F. Antoine Heller, who later went on to design for Gorham. The pattern is multi motif, with different designs representing various Olympic sports.

Oversize Sugar Sifter (8 1/4 inches)




Asparagus Serving Fork (9 1/2 inches)




Salad Fork (6 3/4 inches)



Sorbet Spoon (5 1/4 inches)

Pie Fork - Part 2

Another post about Pie Forks (I posted earlier).

Lily of the Valley by Whiting (7 3/8 inches)


Olympian by Tiffany (6 1/8 inches)




Francis I by Alvin (6 inches)



Violet by Whiting (6 1/4 inches)

Orange Spoon (Part 3)

Sometimes referred to  as the Fruit/Orange Spoon, I have posted earlier on the Orange Spoon with its  gold washed and pointed bowl tip. The gold wash protected the sterling from the acidic citrus juices and the tip helped cut through the pulp.

These four patterns by Tiffany date back to the late 1800's.

English King by Tiffany (5 3/4 inches)

Faneuil by Tiffany (5 7/8 inches)

Olympian by Tiffany   (6 inches)

Palm by Tiffany (6 inches)

Vegetable Serving Spoon (Pierced Bowl)

Like I mentioned earlier, the Vegetable Serving Spoon comes in three "styles", the Oval Bowl, Pointed Bowl, and  here is the Pierced  Bowl Vegetable Serving Spoon.

Olympian by Tiffany (9 inches)

Francis I by Reed and Barton (8 3/8 inches)

 Savannah by Reed and Barton (8 3/8 inches)

Pate Spreader

To complicate things - the Pate Spreader actually looks more like a knife than the Pate Knife, which I posted on earlier.  These pieces are  found in many of the older patterns but can easily  be confused with the butter knife.

Chrysanthemum by Tiffany (5 inches)

Whittier by Tiffany (6 1/4 inches)

 

 Olympian byTiffany

 

Marquis by Frank Whiting (5 1/4 inches)

 

Versailles by Gorham (4 5/8  inches)

 

Misc Unique Servers

Every once in a while you run across some pieces that get classified in very general terms such as "forks", here are some elegant serving pieces classified as "Servers".

 "Elephant Ear" Server (in Olympian pattern by Tiffany) (10 3/4 inches)


Sterling Silver Shovel (in Lady pattern by Gorham) (10 inches)


 Server  (in Olympian pattern by Tiffany) (12 1/2 inches) 



Server (in Morning Glory pattern by Gorham) (10 1/2 inches)

Olive Forks (Two Tine)

I posted earlier examples of three tine Olive Forks. Here are examples of Two Tine Olive Forks.

Olympian by Tiffany (7 inches)

Florentine By Tiffany (7 inches)





Royal Windsor by  Towle (5 3/8 inches)

Oyster Ladles

More Oyster utensils. The Oyster Ladle used to serve Oyster Stew is one of the many ladles in any given sterling pattern.


Empire by Durgin (10 3/8 inches)





Olympian by Tiffany (11 1/4 inches)







Watteau by Durgin (12 3/4 inches)



Elegante by Reed and Barton (10 3/4 inches)

Ice Cream Slicers Revisted Part 2

More beautiful Ice Cream Slicers, a serving piece not often used these days.

Meadow by Gorham (10 inches)



Montezuma by Shiebler (10 inches)



Nuremburg by Gorham (10 3/4 inches)




Olympian by Tiffany (11 1/4 inches)



Regent by Durgin (12 inches)



Renaissance by Dominick and Haff (12 inches)



Repousse by Kirk (9 3/8 inches)

Pastry Servers

In an earlier post, I touched on pastry pieces. Here are more Pastry Servers. Be careful with these pieces. These are all sterling, however a majority of what I found were silverplated. Some Pastry Servers have oval shapes, some leaf shapes.

American Victorian by Lunt (10 1/8 inches)





Olympian by Tiffany (10 3/4 inches)



Berry by Whiting (9 inches)





Chrysanthemum by Tiffany (11 3/8 inches)



Betsy Patterson by Stieff ( 8 5/8 inches)





Clune by Whiting (9 1/4 inches)





Vine by Tiffany (10 3/4 inches)





Repousse by Kirk Stieff (10 inches)




Wave Edge by Tiffany (11 inches)