New Arrivals: Tableware

This exquisite early 20th-century painted sheet metal tray is a beautiful example of vintage decorative artistry. Featuring a delicately hand-painted floral design, the centerpiece s...

Handsome and eye catching oval champagne cooler in quality pewter, from the prominent champagne house Moët & Chandon. The cooler can hold 2-3 standard bottles of champagne, and has ...

Vintage Silver Plated Corkscrew realized by italian manufacture in the mid-20th Century. Weight: 0.097 Kg Very good condition.

A boxed set of 12 knife rests in silver-plate, Art Deco period, designed by Swiss sculptor Edouard Sandoz, manufactured by Christofle, Orfévrerie Gallia circa 1935. There are 6 pairs...

Set of twelve Dachshund dog silver plated knife rests, vintage in very good look to be unused from the 1950s.

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...

Set of 12 fine French Art Deco silver plated knife rests designed by Edouard-Marcel Sandoz for the Gallia collection of Christofle. All 12 animals are different. Original case. Aver...

Mappin & Webb silver plate cutlery set for 12 people, England, early 20th century. Complete for 12 people. A total of 130 pieces: 12 large kni...

This extensive early 20th-century French Gien faience dinner service is decorated in the celebrated Coq (Rooster) pattern, one of the manufactory's most iconic designs. Rendered in t...

A refined early 20th-century silver-plated flatware service by the celebrated French Maison Christofle, presented in the historic Japonais pattern and retaining its fitted period pre...

This is a very decorative Chinese folding desk or table screen with hardwood frame and silk panels with hand embroidered decoration, dating to cir...

Set of 12 fine French Art Deco silver plated knife rests designed by Marcel Sandoz for the Gallia collection of Christofle. Six different animals are rep...