Old Newbury Crafters Sterling Silver 160-Piece Flatware Set in Moulton Pattern in Jensen Style
Old Newbury Crafters sterling silver 160-piece flatware set in the Moulton pattern, beautifully and subtly hand-hammered, with heavy gage, in a style and quality similar to that of Georg Jensen, from the 20th century, consisting of:
24 dinner knives measuring 9 3/4'' in length
12 flat butter spreaders measuring 5 3/4'' in length
24 teaspoons measuring 6 1/8'' in length
12 tablespoons measuring 9 1/8'' in length
12 demitasse spoons measuring 4 3/4'' in length
24 oval soup spoons measuring 7 1/4'' in length
12 bouillon spoons measuring 6'' in length
12 cream soup spoons measuring 6 5/8'' in length
12 dinner forks measuring 8'' in length
12 salad forks measuring 7'' in length
a cream ladle measuring 7 3/8'' in length
a tomato server measuring 7'' in length
a pair of tongs measuring 4 1/4'' in length
a stuffing spoon measuring 9'' in length
Each piece bears hallmarks as shown. Total approximate silver weight is 201 troy ounces, including 1 troy ounce per knife. This set is sold with its original flannel and in its storage chest.
Old Newbury Crafters is a celebrated American silversmith, known for creating high-quality, entirely handmade flatware. Old Newbury Crafters began business in 1915 as a partnership between "spoonman" Elmer Senior and "polisher" Albert MacBurnie. Both men had worked at the Frank Smith Silver Company in Gardner, Massachusetts. After leaving there, MacBurnie went to work for Towle Silversmiths. When MacBurnie left Towle, he went to work full time at Old Newbury Crafters. In 1921, at the Art Institute of Chicago, at the Applied Arts Exhibition, the prize for original design in silverware was given to Old Newbury Crafters. In 1934, at the New York Society of Craftsmen, their work was exhibited at a show illustrating contemporary trends in American craft work. After many generations, Old Newbury Crafters is still active to this day.
Their unique, extremely limited production is characterized by renowned hand-wrought (hand hammered) patterns. The process begins with a single bar of sterling silver. There is no stamping or cutting out of the sterling - the piece is forged with a five pound hammer on the polished surface of an anvil. As it is forged the silver hardens and must be heated by the Silversmith to soften it. It is fired to a glowing red and plunged into cold water.
The hammering doesn't end when the piece is forged to shape; it is rehammered with a lighter planishing hammer to smooth out the heavy forging marks, leaving a subtle hammered texture. The hand-forged sterling silver flatware uses many of the same tools and techniques that existed in silversmith shops in the 1700s.
“People really appreciate the way it was made and how it looks,” says master silversmith Geoffrey Blake, who has been making these exquisite pieces for 46 years. The flatware made by Old Newbury Crafters has beautiful handmade details, like marks that show the rich texture of the forging. Unlike machine-made sterling silver pieces that are rolled out to a uniform thickness, the thickness throughout a piece of handmade flatware varies to enhance its strength and beauty.
Some of their pieces are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, in the National Museum of American History in Washington DC, as well as in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York and has been exhibited in various museums, including the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles.
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