Mid-20th Century 42-Piece Brass and Rosewood Flatware Set

Robbe & Berking, Germany. A six-piece alpaca flatware set consisting of a dinner knife, dinner fork, two table spoons, and two appetizer forks. Mid-20th century. Marked. All pieces h...

20th century French porcelain 7 piece dessert set circa 1920. Here we have what we believe to be a french porcelain dessert set. Decorated with gilt handles and lids, set consists o...

Huge collection! Gorgeous dinner size Wedgwood sterling silver flatware set - 140 pieces Plus Hollowware including four-piece sterling silver tea set...

A Fine Early 20th Century 152 Piece Austrian Dinnerware Flatware Set by Berndorfer Metallwaaren-Fabrik, stamped 'Berndorf Alpacca', The Neoclassical Revival style set of Alpacca flatware comprising of: 12 Fish knives 12 Salad forks 12 Salad knives 12 Pasta spoons 12 Dessert spoons 12 Coffee spoons 12 Tea spoons 12 Ice-cream spoons 1 Ice thong 1 Soup ladle 1 Serving spoon 1 Salad spoon 1 Sauce/Gravy ladle 1 Meat carving knife 1 Meat carving fork 1 Salad fork All inside its original lined wooden storage-traveling cabinet. (See all images). Circa: Vienna, 1900-1930. The Alpacca alloy was developed in 1823 by the German chemist Dr. Ernst August Geitner (1783-1852). It was very similar in its appearance to silver, therefore, this new alloy was first called "Argentan". It consisted of 20% nickel, 55% copper and 25% zinc. The new silver-imitating alloy soon became very popular. The Gebrueder Henninger (Henninger Bros.) proposed a similar alloy (5-30% nickel, 45-70% copper and 8-45% zinc with trace amounts of lead, tin and iron) which they called "Neusilber". Later both Argentan and Neusilber were used under the trade name of Alpacca (or Alpakka). The great advantage of the use of Alpacca alloy as the base metal for silver plating is that the appearance of the objects does not change significantly with the wearing away of the silver layer and, unlike sterling silver, it does not require frequent polishing or cleaning due to tarnishing. The earliest known Berndorf Alpacca mark (No.1) was introduced around 1880 and used until 1891. I found it on the bottom of a 30 cl teapot bearing the inscription KRIEAU, which corresponds to the "Wiener Krieau", the famous race course in Vienna. The mark No.1 represents an oval of 3.0 x 3.6 mm size bearing the lettering "BMF ALPACCA" (which means Berndorfer Metallwaaren Fabrik or Berndorf Metalware Factory) with the "M" and "F" letters being fused. Inside the oval there is a profile of a walking bear looking down. This mark is quite rare. BIBLIOGRAPHY - Ingrid Haslinger, Tafelkultur Marke Berndorf, Das Niederoesterreichische Erfolgsunternehmen Arthur Krupps (Ketterl Verlag, Wien, 1998), pp.1-174, (in German). - Dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk and Claudia Kanowski, Modern Art of Metallwork (Berlin: Broehan Museum, 2001), 1-598. - Musterbuch ueber Tafelgeraete in Alpacca-Silber I, Alpacca-Silber II und Alpacca, Unversilbert (Berndorfer Haus, Berlin, 1928), pp.1-53, (in German). - Waltraud Neuwirth, Bluehender Jugendstil Oesterreich, Band 2: Firmen und Marken [Art Nouveau in Blossom - Austria, Vol. 2: Companies and Marks]. Vienna: Selbstverlag Dr. Waltraud Neuwirth, 1991, 1-288 (in German). - David N. Nikogosyan, 2008, Marks of Silverplated Hollowware...

Fabulous and never used rosewood & bronze 91 pcs, service for eight with serving pcs. Great teak storage box with brass & rosewood handle. Truly a qua...

A fine French 76-piece Limoges porcelain dinner set by Ahrenfeldt for Joseph Soret.

Vintage cutlery set was realized in the mid-20th century. This silver plate vintage set is made up of 61 cutleries (forks, knifes, spoons) reali...

Seventeen piece vintage barware suite in a "Tree of Life" pattern which appears to be inspired by Georges Briard's 'Forbidden Fruit' designs. Each piece is decorated in 22-karat gold and translucent colored enamels on clear glass with gold spattered ground. On one side of each piece is a gold fruit tree with a variety of fruits in different colors, the other with a tiered dessert stand...

Mid-20th century English silver plated pair of dessert serving pieces / compote. Each one is in great vintage condition, maker's mark undersigned. Minor wear consistent with age / us...

A six-person modernist dinner flatware set in brass, consisting of six dinner knives and six dinner forks. Swedish design. Late 20th century. Marked. In perfect condition. Knife: L 2...