Robert Wallace is considered the first metalsmith to make a spoon out of German silver, which is also known as nickel silver, even though its principal component is copper and it contains no silver at all. That was in 1835; by 1855 Wallace was doing business as Robert Wallace & Co., and the firm was renamed R. Wallace & Sons in 1871, when it introduced three lines of sterling silver flatware—Hawthorne, The Crown, and St. Leon.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Wallace was producing a wide range of flatware and hollowware, both in sterling and silverplate, as well as items such as souvenir spoons and pin cushion holders. By the 1930s, William Warren was the most influential designer at Wallace. His famous series of six so-called three-dimensional flatware patterns ranged from Rose Point (1934) to Grande Baroque (1941) to Romance of the Sea (1951). In 1956, the company was renamed again, this time as Wallace Silversmiths, and it was owned by the Hamilton Watch Company from 1959 to 1983.
Interviews & Articles
Janine Skerry Shows Off the Silver Collection at Colonial Williamsburg

My interest in silver started when I was a child. One of my earliest memories was opening either my mother or father’s jewelry box… [more]
The Kalo Shop, a Mecca for Arts and Crafts Sterling Silver

How did I get started collecting Arts and Crafts silver? My wife and I had been collecting Arts and Crafts items as far back as I … [more]
Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
Chicago Silver

Paul Somerson's incredible reference on handwrought metalwork from the American Arts and Crafts movement of the ear… [read review or visit site]
Silver Marks Encyclopedia

An extensive reference guide to silver marks, hallmarks, trademarks and maker's marks found on antique and vintage … [read review or visit site]
Silver at the Victoria and Albert

This is a great reference site on silver, courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum. You can view silver items acc… [read review or visit site]
The Gilbert Collection

The late Sir Arthur Gilbert's collection of European silver, gold, enamel, and other items is now housed at the Vic… [read review or visit site]
Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj

“Delight in Design: Indian Silver for the Raj” was the title of a 2008 exhibition at Columbia University’s Mi… [read review or visit site]
TheStieffCompany.com

Scott Perkins is an enthusiastic evangelist for The Stieff Company, a significant Baltimore silversmith and maker o… [read review or visit site]
The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women
If These Shirts Could Talk: The Tantalizing Tales Behind Used Clothes
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
In the Hot Seat: Is Your Antique Windsor a Fake?
Bizarro Beauty Products, from 1889 to Now
Love at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying Obsession
Pin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream Girl
Say Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar
Tokens for Sweethearts, in Times of War
American Picker Dream, Part I: Mike Wolfe On His Love Affair With Bikes

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