Old Newbury Crafters Handwrought Sterling Silver 174-Piece Oak Leaf Flatware Set for 12 in Jensen Style

Old Newbury Crafters 174-piece sterling silver handwrought flatware set, beautifully hand-made and with heavy gage, in Oak Leaf Pattern and in a style and quality similar to that of Georg Jensen, made in the 20th century. 

Retailed by Spaulding, a prestigious Chicago retailer, it consists of:

• 12 ice cream forks measuring 6 1/8'' in length
  
• 12 cocktail forks measuring 5 1/2'' in length
• 18 salad forks measuring 6 3/8'' in length
• 12 dinner forks measuring 7 1/8'' in length
• 12 all-silver butter spreaders measuring 6'' in length
• 16 steak knives measuring 8 1/2'' in length
• 12 dinner knives measuring 9'' in length
• 12 ice tea spoons measuring 8'' in length
• 28 teaspoons measuring 6 1/4'' in length
• 12 bouillon spoons 6'' measuring in length
• 12 cream soup spoons measuring 6 1/2'' in length
• a two-piece carving set with a fork measuring 9'' in length and a knife measuring 10 3/8'' in length
• a cream ladle measuring 6 3/8'' in length
• a pie server with a stainless steel blade measuring 10 1/2'' in length
• a cold meat fork measuring 8 3/8'' in length
• a pair of mashed potato serving spoons measuring 10 3/4'' in length
• an all-silver fish server measuring 11 1/4'' in length
• a heart-shaped all-silver pie server measuring 9'' in length
• an all-silver tomato server measuring 9 5/8'' in length
• a tablespoon measuring 9'' in length
• a round serving spoon measuring 10'' in length
• an all-silver fish slice measuring 9 3/8'' in length
• a tomato server with a stainless steel blade measuring 10'' in length
• a tart server measuring 6 7/8'' in length

Each piece bears hallmarks as shown, which indicate that master craftsmen including James F. Harvey, Robert H. Lapham, and Daniel S. Morrill handmade the flatware set. Total approximate silver weight including 1 troy ounce per knife is an impressive 236 troy ounces. This set is sold in its original Spaulding flannels. 

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. 

Founded in 1888 by Henry A. Spaulding, Spaulding & Co., a Chicago-based firm, was owned by Gorham in the late 1920s to 1943. Well known as a jewelry retailer, Spaulding & Co. also manufactured and retailed sterling hollowware.

Please feel free to ask us any questions, and please see our other listings. NO published price will beat ours. We hand polish all items before shipping them out, but if there is interest for a professional polishing and/or engraving removal, we can take care of that for an additional charge and with delayed shipping.