If you happen to own a popular sterling flatware pattern from the 20th century, you may be aware that there is a corresponding holloware pattern to match it. Gorham, Towle, and Reed & Barton to name a few all manufactured holloware to match their most popular flatware patterns.
Unfortunately, there is more preowned flatware in existence than matching holloware. Prices for the surviving holloware can be pricey as well. For example, a water pitcher in Gorham Chantilly can run over $4,000.
Fortunately, many manufacturers made "generic" holloware to match most flatware patterns. My favorite example of this is the Reed & Barton Windsor pattern.
Windsor offers many of the key holloware pieces: gravy boat(X958G), vegetable bowl(X959), bread tray(X959R), centerpiece bowl(X959F), meat trays, salad dishes, waiter trays, bon bon bowls and even an individual ashtray(X958A). The later frequently gets mislabeled as a nut dish or butter pat.
Windsor is often described as a "Chippendale" design. This pattern is probably the most easily obtainable holloware series and typically sells for a lower price than a holloware pattern specifically designed to match a particular flatware pattern.
The primary disadvantage is that many of these generic patterns don't offer a complete holloware selection. For example, there are no salt & pepper shakers in the Windsor pattern or bread plates. Reed & Barton does have generic salt & pepper shakers and bread plates as well as other items in sterling to round out the table.
If you don't require everything to match perfectly, generic holloware patterns may be the way to go.
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