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tline3open  Seeking Help, 19th Century French Silver

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Author Topic:   Seeking Help, 19th Century French Silver
Ari Silverman
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iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 08:06 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
[01-1187]

I am desperately trying to find information about a silver set with an incredibly limited amount of information at my disposable. I know very little about silver.

This is all the information I have:

    "At Christofle he obtained a place setting of the nineteenth-century silverware he preferred, in a Cardinal pattern, the maker's mark stamped in the bowl of the spoons, the Paris rat tail on the underside of the handles. The forks were deeply curved, the tines widely spaced, and the knives had a pleasing heft far back in the palm. The pieces hang in the hand like good dueling pistols."
Can anyone be of help?

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Scott Martin
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iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 09:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What is it you are trying to find out?
Why?

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Ari Silverman
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iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 10:40 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am trying to get any and all information that is available. As I am not an expert, I'd like to be educated about the various terms. Also, and most importantly, I'd like to know where pieces can be acquired once (and if) the silver in question can be identified.

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Patrick Vyvyan

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Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 11:34 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Patrick Vyvyan     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I should also be interested in obtaining a nearly brand-new Striker autopsy saw at a bargain price.
Thanks in advance,
Hannibal Lecter

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Patrick Vyvyan

Posts: 640
Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 11:46 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Patrick Vyvyan     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
But aside from the unusual gastronomic interests implied in your question, Christofle are an important French producer of mainly silverplate. The company started in Paris in the 1830s and introduced silverplating technology from c.1842 onwards.

They have a web page which has been "under construction" for quite a while now at

The type of service that Thomas Harris describes is typical of Christofle although I can find no immediate reference to a style known as Cardinal.

Bon apetit!

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Scott Martin
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iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 11:59 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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Arg(um)entum

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iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 01:32 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Arg(um)entum     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Sure glad we have you around, Patrick! Not being a reader of light fiction, I certainly wouldn't have caught on to him.

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Ari Silverman
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iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 07:24 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I assure you, there are no "gastronomic implications" my question. I don't even eat meat! And if I did, we aren't even kosher. wink

I searched as was unable to find a reference to a Cardinal pattern, either. Granted, the passage says the place setting was nineteenth-century. Are the early Christofle records completely intact? Does the lack of references to a Cardinal pattern mean that there is no such pattern at it is merely an invention of Harris? He often gives false information deliberately.

A quick question, what is a "Paris rat tail?"

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Patrick Vyvyan

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Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-11-2003 08:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Patrick Vyvyan     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Christofle did publish catalogs of their products in the latter 19th century. The company itself also has significant archives and above all a magnificent museum if you ever go to Paris.

Regarding Cardinal, another important French producer of silver and silver plate, Puiforcat do currently produce a style called Cardinal which would certainly fit Harris's description:

How old the style is, I don't know. Nor do I know if it's a generic style name used by other manufacturers e.g. Christofle, as well.

The "rat's tail" is clearly visible on the fork.

This said, the description "The pieces hang in the hand like good dueling pistols" for me at least conjours up this style of knife:

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swarter
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Posts: 2920
Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 08-12-2003 01:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for swarter     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
How old the style is, I don't know. Nor do I know if it's a generic style name used by other manufacturers e.g. Christofle, as well.
The "rat's tail" is clearly visible on the fork.
This said, the description "The pieces hang in the hand like good dueling pistols" for me at least conjours up this style of knife:

If I interpret your question properly, you are are referring to the origin of this style, which is loosely based on the "trefid" form popular in the Western World at the end of the XVII C and beginning of the XVIII C.

The three-lobed cleft terminus of the fork and spoon, flattened shaft, ovoid spoon bowl and trident or three-pronged fork end are reminiscent of the period, although the use of the rat-tail I believe was confined to spoons. Some forks had two or four tines. The bands around the shafts suggest the sliding ferrules that were found on traveller's folding spoons and forks of the period. As you implied, pistol grip knives were made, but silver knives and forks were not particularly widely used, except in the "highest end" services. Tubular handles with a knopped terminus were found on some larger serving pieces, but I think not often in place settings. I have not seen square handles such as these on older pieces, but I am not especially familiar with variatons in early French styles, so if there are any that differ appreciably from what is described here, I would welcome comments.

[This message has been edited by swarter (edited 08-12-2003).]

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