posted 04-25-1999 04:55 PM            

Special Features

Love Disarmed is one of the most beautiful figural patterns ever made. Certainly nothing can compare to it for high relief.

Dating

Possibly the most interesting part of the story. The pattern, first produced in 1899 was listed by Turner as obsolete by 1929. For many years it was a highly sought after but a very scarce and expensive pattern. Then around 1970 the factory was persuaded to re-manufacture certain pieces of the pattern from the original dies. These later pieces are now readily available, and certainly have lowered the price to something more affordable. Connoisseurs, claim to be able to tell the old from the new by the crispness of the relief in the folds of the clothing, the child's hand and the nose, the newer dies producing poorer quality. Not all pieces were reproduced e.g the demi-tasse shown and the luncheon fork. Our demi, salad fork and teaspoon are marked "Pat Appl'd for" , the luncheon fork reads "Pat Dec 5 1905" as do the dinner fork, oval soup, and flat butter. I purchased the group shown as a place setting intact less the demi and luncheon fork. While the dinner knife is obviously new, the other pieces seemed beautiful and crisp with a satin finish that was different than the "new" pieces I have seen . I cannot prove if they are old or new but you can examine them for yourself in the blow ups provided below. Does anyone have a foolproof method for dating?

Pieces Available

Item length Our cost
Dinner knife 9 �" $85
Dinner Fork 7 �" $85
Luncheon Fork 7" $125
Salad Fork 6" $85
Oval Soup 7 �" $85
Teaspoon 6" $75
Demi-Tasse 4 �" $85
Flat Butter 5 7/8" $75

Photo:

For full size click here.

Key Pieces

The luncheon fork does not seem to have been reproduced as well as the demi. Thus these are scarce.

Comments

An example of the benefits of collecting a single place setting. While a whole table of Love Disarmed might be a little overbearing, a single place setting is a prize acquisition. Again the key will be to be able to be able determine old and new pieces with accuracy.