Catalog: Antiques: Decorative Art (483)

Six pearl handled luncheon knives with sterling silver ferules. The ferules are decorated with a classic scrolling vine motif. The French-style blades are unusually long in relation to the pearl handles--a proportion that gives this set a particularly elegant appeal. The blades are marked with a "12" designating the highest quality of 19th century American silverplate. Pearl handled knives are more frequently found in the larger dinner size.

Origin: America, c. 1900. Condition: excelent. Size: 7-7/8".

Early Staffordshire porcelain saucer decorated with bright polychrome enamels and pink luster arranged in a very pretty wreath pattern. The body is very slightly molded into lobes along the edges.

Origin: England, c. 1840. Condition: good; a small crow's foot on the back side and a small bite to the bottom rim. Size: 5-5/8" diam.

John C. Moore period Tiffany & Co. sterling silver child's fork decorated with the nursery rhyme "Cock Robin & Jenny Wren." The fork shows the likeness of Mr. Robin wearing a tuxedo and Ms. Wren demurely peeking over her fan. The back is marked "Tiffany & Co. Sterling". The back also bears the letter M designating manufacture between the years 1875 and 1891.

Condition: excellent; usual wear to outer tines; no monogram. Size: 6-1/4" long.

Gorgeous sterling silver pickle fork in a lovely Art Nouveau pattern featuring wild roses trailing assymetrically down the handle. The design continues onto the back of the fork, as well. The elegance of the detailing is simply stunning even the thorns are visible. Excellent condition; no monogram. The reverse is marked "Sterling/Pat. 1903" and has the maker's mark for the Baird-North Co. of Salem, MA. Excellent condition, no monogram. 5-13/16" long.

Sterling silver berry spoon in Knowles' 1900 "Lexington" pattern. Simplicity of decoration is the rule, so that the ribbed bowl with its bright matte gilding is the focal point.

Origin: America, c. 1900. Condition: near mint, no monogram, gilding intact. Size: 7" long.

Lovely sterling silver lettuce fork in Whiting's 1896 "Dresden" pattern. The ornate design of flowers and shells compliments the elegant shape of the piece.

Iceberg lettuce, developed at the end of the 19th century, was the first leafy vegetable that would keep long enough to be transported from farms to larger cities. Consequently, lettuce was a very elegant and costly food at formal dinners.

Origin: America, c. 1900. Condition: excellent, no monogram. Size: 9-1/4".

Lovely sterling silver cream or sauce ladle with a gilt, lobed bowl featuring a floral display. Designed by the Sterling Silver Manufacturing Company of Providence, RI, in 1908.

Origin: America, c. 1908. Condition: excellent, no monogram, gilding intact. Size: 5-3/4" long.

Sterling silver berry spoon in Towle's 1884 "Arlington" pattern. This rare pattern featured a different repousse design on each piece of the service. The gilt spade-shaped bowl is engraved with climbing roses growing on a trellis. This decoration is especially interesting.

The pattern is named after Robert E. Lee's plantation, "Arlington". Union troops buried their dead in Mrs. Lee's rose garden as a spiteful act, and unwittingly created Arlington National Cemetary.

Origin: America, c. 1880s. Condition: excellent, gilding intact, no monogram. Size: 6-7/8" long.

Painted cast iron horsehead nameplate by Hubley, intended for use on a stable door, probably at a racetrack or horse farm. Two screws are meant to hold an engraved nameplate to the horseshoe. This would make a great name plate on the front door of a home.

Origin: America, c. 1920. Condition: excellent, less than 5% paint loss. Size: 8" x 4" x 3" deep.

Painted cast iron dog paperweight, probably by Hubley.

Origin: America, c. 1920. Condition: good, about 10% paint loss. Size: 1-5/8" tall.

Painted cast iron paperweight, probably by Hubley.

Origin: America, ca. 1920. Condition: very minimal paint loss (less than 5%). Size: 1-5/8" tall.

High quality porcelain tea saucer in a most unusual design incorporating polychrome fantasy flowers with pink luster, probably made for the American market. The body is a typical Regency style with tall, sharply angled sides. Origin: England, c. 1800-1820. Condition: mint. Size: 5-5/8" diam.; 1-1/4" high.

High quality porcelain tea saucer in a most unusual design incorporating polychrome fantasy flowers with pink luster, probably made for the American market. The body is a typical Regency style with tall, sharply angled sides.

Origin: England, c. 1800-1820. Condition: mint. Size: 5-5/8" diam.; 1-1/4" high.

Staffordshire pottery cup and saucer decorated in a rare combination of rococo brown transfer reserves with pink luster roses. The earthenware body is molded in a swirled pattern.

Origin: England, c. 1850. Condition: mint. Size: saucer, 5" diam.; cup 2-1/4" tall, 3" diam. (not including handle).

Superb gilt bronze figural inkstand depicting a still pond afloat with water lilies. Separately cast lily pads float just above the surface of the bronze "water", three buds in various stages of development rise above the leaves, and the whole is topped off by a fabulous full-blown waterlily inkwell with a honeybee finial. One of the buds serves as a pen holder. The "pond" is raised on three feet cast in the form of salamanders so fully detailed that their coiled bodies are visible only when the inkstand is turned upside down.

Origin: probably English or French, c. 1870. Condition: excellent; some minor pitting from the corrosive inks; the glass insert is missing; some of the details show very nice green patination. Size: 12-1/2" x 8-1/2" x 3-1/2".

Stunning single-vase epergne in blue opaline glass. The deeply ruffled edges of the trumpet vase contrasts with the gentler ruffle of the lower bowl. The coloring is particularly nice.

Origin: probably France, possibly England, c. 1840. Condition: the very bottom of the trumpet is broken off, but when the trumpet is in place, the break is below the juncture with the lower bowl and no problems are visible (there is a remote possibility that this damage was in the making); otherwise excellent. Size: 8-3/4" tall; 7" diam.

Outstanding early South Jersey glass paperweight enclosing a frit design of an eagle with an American flag and the words "The American Fire Philadelphia A.D. 1810." I'm not sure if this refers to a fire department or a fire insurance company. The detailing, especially the feathery delicacy of the eagle's wings, is very nice. The glass is very good quality and the design achieves very nice magnification because of its placement low in the crown. The bottom is flat with a polished pontil mark.

Origin: Southern New Jersey (Millville area), possibly Whitall Tatum Co., ca. 1900. Condition: the crown has one relatively small moon and the typical surface wear found on weights of this age (interestingly, most of this wear is around the periphery of the weight and not directly over the design); the bottom has the usual wear and somebody's etched initials (J.M.B.). Size: 3-1/4" diam.

Staffordshire Red Riding Hood & The Wolf figure decorated in red, green, blue, black, pink, yellow and brown enamels.

Origin: Staffordshire, England, ca. 1850. Condition: some scratching to the overglaze red enamel (mostly at her elbow and along the edges of her bonnet), otherwise excellent. Size: 4" tall.