Shells! 50 Pc Set Antique French GOLD VERMEIL Sterling Flatware Service for Entremets, Fruit, Salad, Dessert & Ice Cream Courses - 5.56 troy lbs.!

Silver : Antique : Sterling : Vermeil : Flatware

$3,600 USD
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A fabulous large flatware service in French vermeil (18k or 22k gold on silver). It is so rare to find such a complete set, still intact after a hundred years! There are pieces for the first course (entremet) and for salad, fruit and dessert courses! Included are charming shell-form dessert spoons, and the tart server bears a delightful music trophy. Each piece is decorated in the Louis XVI style with wrapped ribbons. And no monograms! Total silver weight over 4 1/2 pounds! 2074 grams (4.57 lbs., 66.68 troy oz. or 5.56 troy lbs.)

Vermeil was typically used together with the sterling flatware sets in France. It was very practical for the fruit, salad and dessert courses, since the gold would not be harmed by acidic foods in the way that silver would be. This is a particularly versatile set because it has so many kinds of pieces for just about every imaginable use! It can even be used for the main course, if you like, since the spoons and forks are of a size similar to our American luncheon size, which many use for dinner as well. (While available, we have a beautiful set of vermeil dinner knives, sold separately.) For those who prepare a traditional French dinner with several courses, this set would be an excellent accompaniment to our silver sets of "grand couverts," the large French dinner-size spoons and forks.

Only the finest vermeil was gilded over the finest grade of silver, .950 (purer than sterling), as this set was. Each piece in this set bears the French Minerve I guarantee mark for the finest standard of silver in the world, at .950 (purer than sterling's .925.); plus the maker's mark for master goldsmith, Charles Barrier (Saglier successor), who traded at 7 rue Réaumur, Paris, from July 1905 to July 1923.

The set includes:

12 spoons (entremet) c. 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.), 567 grams

12 forks (entremet) c. 7 1/8 in. (18 cm.), 533 grams

10 knives w/steel blades (entremet or fruit) c. 7 3/8 in. (18.8 cm.), 306 grams

9 shell-form dessert or fruit spoons c. 5 in. (12.5 cm), 159 grams

1 shell-form berry or dessert serving spoon c. 7 5/8 in. (19.5 cm.), 57 grams

1 pie or tart server c. 11 in. (28 cm.), 108 grams

1 pair salad servers c. 10 1/4 in. (26 cm), 156 grams

1 sauce ladle c. 7 1/8 in. (18 cm), 92 grams

1 sugar spoon c. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm.),28 grams

1 grape scissors c. 7in. (18 cm.) 68 grams

Setting aside the knives for the moment, the rest of the set is in excellent condition, with the original gilding in great condition. (Please pardon my over-exposed photos.) Only the gilding on one spoon, the tart server, cream ladle and grape scissors shows some wear.

The knives appear never to have been gilded. The early steel knife blades and blades of the grape scissors will need some professional polishing, or the blades can simply be replaced, if desired.

Altogether this is a wonderful old flatware service of French vermeil, ready to use. A splendid addition to a collection of French silver and sure to impress!

Item ID: 1007-026