Sergio Asti Tableware

A lovely set of silver plated cutlery for 12 persons, made by the French brand Frionnet. An elegant design in rococo style, the cutlery dates from circa 1990 in is in very good con...

Great set of silver plated flatware for 12 people from the French brand Christofle. The model's name is Spatours, a classic and timeless design ...

Fabulous and never used rosewood & bronze 91 pcs, service for eight with serving pcs. Great teak storage box with brass & rosewood handle. Truly a qua...

Vintage 'Orangeade' 1970s drinking set designed by Jean Pierre Vitrac in a vibrant orange color. This beautiful set includes six plastic cups and a matching jug for all types of ref...

Beautiful 38 piece, service for six, stainless steel flatware set in the Design 2 pattern manufactured by Lauffer. Originally designed in 1956 by the American industrial designer Don...

A Fine Early 20th Century 152 Piece Austrian Dinnerware Flatware Set by Berndorfer Metallwaaren-Fabrik, stamped 'Berndorf Alpacca', The Neoclassical Revival style set of Alpacca flatware comprising of: 12 Fish knives 12 Salad forks 12 Salad knives 12 Pasta spoons 12 Dessert spoons 12 Coffee spoons 12 Tea spoons 12 Ice-cream spoons 1 Ice thong 1 Soup ladle 1 Serving spoon 1 Salad spoon 1 Sauce/Gravy ladle 1 Meat carving knife 1 Meat carving fork 1 Salad fork All inside its original lined wooden storage-traveling cabinet. (See all images). Circa: Vienna, 1900-1930. The Alpacca alloy was developed in 1823 by the German chemist Dr. Ernst August Geitner (1783-1852). It was very similar in its appearance to silver, therefore, this new alloy was first called "Argentan". It consisted of 20% nickel, 55% copper and 25% zinc. The new silver-imitating alloy soon became very popular. The Gebrueder Henninger (Henninger Bros.) proposed a similar alloy (5-30% nickel, 45-70% copper and 8-45% zinc with trace amounts of lead, tin and iron) which they called "Neusilber". Later both Argentan and Neusilber were used under the trade name of Alpacca (or Alpakka). The great advantage of the use of Alpacca alloy as the base metal for silver plating is that the appearance of the objects does not change significantly with the wearing away of the silver layer and, unlike sterling silver, it does not require frequent polishing or cleaning due to tarnishing. The earliest known Berndorf Alpacca mark (No.1) was introduced around 1880 and used until 1891. I found it on the bottom of a 30 cl teapot bearing the inscription KRIEAU, which corresponds to the "Wiener Krieau", the famous race course in Vienna. The mark No.1 represents an oval of 3.0 x 3.6 mm size bearing the lettering "BMF ALPACCA" (which means Berndorfer Metallwaaren Fabrik or Berndorf Metalware Factory) with the "M" and "F" letters being fused. Inside the oval there is a profile of a walking bear looking down. This mark is quite rare. BIBLIOGRAPHY - Ingrid Haslinger, Tafelkultur Marke Berndorf, Das Niederoesterreichische Erfolgsunternehmen Arthur Krupps (Ketterl Verlag, Wien, 1998), pp.1-174, (in German). - Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk and Claudia Kanowski, Modern Art of Metallwork (Berlin: Broehan Museum, 2001), 1-598. - Musterbuch ueber Tafelgeraete in Alpacca-Silber I, Alpacca-Silber II und Alpacca, Unversilbert (Berndorfer Haus, Berlin, 1928), pp.1-53, (in German). - Waltraud Neuwirth, Bluehender Jugendstil Oesterreich, Band 2: Firmen und Marken [Art Nouveau in Blossom - Austria, Vol. 2: Companies and Marks]. Vienna: Selbstverlag Dr. Waltraud Neuwirth, 1991, 1-288 (in German). - David N. Nikogosyan, 2008, Marks of Silverplated Hollowware...

Black ashtray / catch all by Sergio Asti for Kartell Model No. 4635 This ashtray has a very interesting design, featuring a stainless steel inner piece that is both chromed and pai...

Dansk "Thebe" Stainless Steel Flatware Set. 41 pieces which is service for 8 plus one butter knife. 1970's design, but this set dates to the 80's for production. Very nice solid s...

Iconic sixties design by Massimo and Lella Vignelli of stacking plates and mugs manufactured by Heller. This set consists of 6 dinner plates and 6 mugs in a sunshine yellow color. Al...

With its modern, straight edges and brushed golden black finish, this 5-piece set of the Due Collection is perfect for both formal dining and casual parties. Crafted of heavy-gauge 1...

A 58 piece set of silverplated sculptural south seas pattern styled flatware with 8 serving pieces, with five pieces for each place setting salad, dinner fork, tea, soup spoon and knife. There are eight severing pieces butter, cake knife, slotted, large severing and condiment spoon...

This sterling silver flatware set is gorgeous. Not too ornate and not too plain; the perfect look for a sterling flatware set in today’s age. It has a symmetrical pattern on the bott...