By Maribeth Keane and Brad Quinn — My interest in silver started when I was a child. One of my earliest memories was opening either my mother or father’s jewelry box and using a magnifying glass to look at all the little marks on the pieces inside. There were also a few pieces of metalwork in our family: a copper coffeepot and a small silver saucepan. My great, great, great grandfather in Sweden made the coffeepot, and my grandfather made the little silver saucepan. He passed away when I was 7. It intrigued me that people...

William Faris (1728-1804): Annapolis Silversmith

By Lockwood Barr — The most picturesque figure among the 18th century Maryland silversmiths was William Faris of Annapolis, watch maker, clockmaker, silversmith, designer, portrait painter, cabinetmaker, mirror maker, tulip grower, tavern keeper, dentist, diarist, and gossip par excellence. He arrests and deserves attention… Thus runs the account of Faris in Maryland Silversmiths, 1715-1830, by J. Hall Pleasants and Howard Sill (Balt. 1930). There is no doubt that even in his own day and age William...

The Kalo Shop, a Mecca for Arts and Crafts Sterling Silver

By Maribeth Keane — How did I get started collecting Arts and Crafts silver? My wife and I had been collecting Arts and Crafts items as far back as I can remember, mostly furniture and tiles. One day many years ago I got bit by the silver bug. We lived in California and I’d visit antique dealers and one of them showed me a silver serving spoon by Chicago silver maker Falick Novick. It was beautifully made, the shape was great and it had little marks all over it, which I soon learned are called planishing or...

Georgian Silver Sugar Tongs From 1770 to 1820

By Graham Hodges — The period of English history from 1770 to 1820 was a time of great change and great prosperity for England. As a result it was a growth period for silver table-ware, much of which still survives today. This period saw the change from tea tongs, through cast sugar tongs to the standard style sugar tongs, (or sugar bows). It is also the period when bright cut engraving was at its peak. Cast tongs are relatively rare and rarer still are cast tongs that are un-damaged, for despite...