There's going to come a time...

Mr. Bowen has no doubt that at some time in the future, popular sterling flatware and holloware pieces will be duplicated by modern day counterfeiters.  Mr. Bowen has been thinking about this matter for some time.  Our particular obsession is not on the general radar.  However, if and when a significant spike occurs again in the price of precious metals, ours will be a possible area for exploiting by counterfeiters.

How does one determine whether one has the real McCoy?  You could purchase some rather expensive electronic equipment to test it.  One could also use a specially made acid to test silver.  The acid turns into a reddish brown with real silver and a green color with a fake silver item.  This of course will damage your sterling.

Although Mr. Bowen has not seen a counterfeit piece in flatware or holloware, he suspects that there may be fakes produced in popular flatware patterns.  Here are a couple of simple no cost indicators:

1.) The magnet test-put a magnet to the questionable item.  If a magnet adheres to the item, you can rest assure that the item is not sterling.

2.) Ice cube test-place the item on a metal surface.  Put an ice cube on the item and on the metal surface.  If the item is silver, the ice cube will demonstratively melt faster on the genuine sterling item versus the metal surface.  Silver is a great conductor of thermal energy.

Mr. Bowen is definitely not an expert in the area of detecting fake sterling items and makes no claims as to the efficacy or suitability of the above mentioned testing methods.  There are other tests out there in addition to the ones mentioned above.  He has written this post in the hopes of bringing attention to this matter.

Flatware for Youth

Mr. Bowen's thoughts of late have been of the recent birth of his first grandchild.  This in turn has him thinking of flatware for the newest member of the family.  As you might expect, Mr. Bowen was in fact born with a sterling silver spoon in his mouth or at least shortly thereafter.  He received a sterling baby fork and spoon set in the Grande Baroque pattern by Wallace. 

Slightly worse for the wear, this set now resides in the possession of his nephew.  In addition, Mr. Bowen received a sterling baby cup as well.  While still serviceable, this piece has been inundated with dents on the bottom.  This piece will go to his new grandson who will put in dents of his own to the cup. 

While sterling silver baby forks, spoons and cups are great gifts, Mr. Bowen feels that the money spent on these items might be better spent on a youth set of flatware.   Typically, a youth set of flatware consists of a 3 piece set of a knife, fork and spoon.  The lengths of the flatware are shorter and smaller in size than a typical setting.  They are designed for ages 3 - 8.

A youth knife is about 7-1/2'' in length, the fork about 6-3/4'' and the spoon about 5-3/4'' long.  This compares with the smallest size adult flatware (luncheon) which typically has a 8-7/8'' knife, a 7-1/4" fork and a 6'' teaspoon.  Mr. Bowen is not aware of any manufacturer who makes youth flatware with additional pieces such as soup spoons or salad forks.  Apparently, the manufacturers have taken pity on the wee lads and lasses.  Learning to eat Continental style is difficult enough at that age, let alone mastering the rest of the table.

Odds & Ends of the Table Not Seen Recently

There are several pieces of sterling holloware that now exist primarily in collectors' hands.  These are pieces that were seen on the tables of the wealthy in the mid 16th century through the mid 20th century.  Mr. Bowen supposes that someone, somewhere may use these pieces on special occasions, but for the most part have gone extinct.

The first such piece for discussion is the epergne.  This is an often ornate tiered centerpiece consisting typically of a frame of wrought metal bearing bowls, vases (for flowers), or candle holders or a combination of these.  Typically though, there is usually one large bowl at the top on a pedestal with between 3-6 smaller bowls on branches or arms.  Sometimes the smaller bowls are movable from side to side.

The purpose of the epergne was several fold in addition to being centerpiece of the table.  It was also used to serve dessert, nuts, fruits and other items meant to be served sparingly.  Georgian examples of an epergne in sterling silver are rather expensive in the range of $30,000 & up.

Another holloware piece not seen recently is the tureen.  This is a large covered dish from which soup is served.  These are sometimes seen today in materials other than sterling silver.  Examples in sterling are relatively hard to find except at specialized dealers.

Sandwich plates were rather ubiquitous in the era of the high tea.  As you may expect, these are plates from which sandwiches are eaten or served (depending on the formality of the meal).  These are similar in size to a dinner/service plate, but are distinguishable in that they have a very shallow well of about 5-6 inches in the center.  They are often sold as dinner plates in the online auctions.  The dealers in sterling silver know better.

What ties these types of holloware together is they are the type of pieces that one can center (no pun intended) a meal or fraction of a meal.  

 

Dining with the Wagners

The suavest American actor in Mr. Bowen's mind in the 1960s, 1970s and beyond is Robert Wagner.     Although in recent days, his reverse mortgage commercials have diminished his stock in the mind of Mr. Bowen.  He is the American personality whose image Mr. Bowen most closely aligns with the word "Continental".  Perhaps you thought I was going to say it was Christopher Walken. That would be understandable given a certain series of skits on Saturday Night Live. 

Mr. Bowen first became exposed to the Continental style of eating while living abroad.  At that time, he did not immediately adopt this style of eating, but it did leave an impression upon him.

Simply stated, the Continental style of eating demands that the knife is held in the right hand and the fork in the left at all times during the meal with the knife being used as a pusher.  Fork tines are facing down at all times.  A small bit of meat is speared with the fork and food is piled on top of it (in small amounts) by pushing it on with the knife.  It is then transported to the mouth.  This style of eating is now Mr. Bowen's adopted preferred style of eating.

If you are not familiar with this eating style, you may want to practise at home first before that couples night out with the Wagners.  If you gain efficiency with this style of eating, you will look like Rico Suave.  Just don't hold your utensils like a pen.

Why Americans Eat So Strangely

When Mr. Bowen was a wee lad, his mother attempted to show him how to eat properly.  The American style of eating did not suit the young Mr. Bowen at all.  It was a lot of work.  The traditional American eating style is rather cumbersome.

The traditional American style of eating demands that the fork be held in the right hand at all times except when cutting.  Food is eaten with the fork tines facing upward.  When cutting, the fork is transferred to the left hand with tines down.  The index finger is extended down the back of the fork with the remaining three fingers and thumb are curled around the handle.   

The knife when cutting is held in the right hand with the index finger extended down the back of the knife.  The remaining three fingers and thumb are curled around the handle. 

After cutting one bite only, the knife is set down on the plate, with the sharp edge facing the center of the plate.  The fork is then transferred to the right hand.  Food is speared with the fork and carried to the mouth with the fork tines facing upward.  This process is repeated over and over again in a zig-zag pattern.

The American style of eating had its' roots in the 17th century.  Forks for personal eating purposes were a relative rarity in British Colonial America until the mid 18th century.  Meat, a mainstay of meals, was cut by a knife, then conveyed to the mouth on the tip of the knife.  In the latter part of the 17th century, the king of France banned pointed knives at the table. The blunted knives imported from Europe were not as easy to eat with as pointed ones.  As a result, Americans started using their spoons to steady food as they cut and then switched the spoon to the opposite hand in order to scoop up food to eat.  The rest is history.

 

The French Style Table Setting

The generic French place setting has the water goblet and wine glasses placed on a diagonal on the right of the plate.  The last wine glass of the diagonal is placed above the fish knife.  The dessert fork and spoon are placed directly above the top of the plate.  Then come the individual salt and pepper shakers with the place card at the twelve o'clock position at the top.  It is important to note that the dessert fork tines face to the right while the spoon above it faces in the opposite direction.  Like the American setting, this arrangement makes it possible for the waiter or butler to slide the fork and spoon to the left and right respectively after the other flatware has been removed.  The dessert is then served.  

The French style place setting typically has no bread plate.  Any bread that is served is placed on the service plate.

As mentioned previously, the flatware on the table reflects the various courses to be served.  To the left of the plate, the forks are placed in order of the courses served, starting from the left to the right.  That usually means the fish fork, then the main course fork and finally the salad fork.  Typically, the right side starts with a soup spoon, fish knife and then the main course knife.  Notice that here again, there is no salad knife.     


Although the cutlery is laid out the same way as in American and British settings, the forks and spoons are turned over.  The reason for this is typically the French family monograms are engraved on the back of the cutlery.