How to Identify a Stainless Flatware Pattern
Quality stainless flatware can last for generations and increase in value. A company, which may no longer exist or may have merged into another corporation, may have made your stainless flatware. Vintage manufacturers used different methods for marking their products, and others did not use any form of stamping on their stainless flatware. Identifying your flatware patterns is the first step to ascertain the value of your set or to replace missing pieces. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Remove the following pieces from the set: one dinner fork, one knife, one dessert spoon, one soup spoon and all serving pieces. The manufacturer may have stamped an identifying mark on only the serving pieces or on only the soup spoons or the knives, since these are the larger pieces in the set. Smaller pieces, such as the butter knife, may not be marked.
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Examine both the front and the back of each of the above pieces for symbols and words. Although the markings are generally on the handles of the flatware, they could also be on the upper back of the fork tines, the upper back of the spoon cradle or on the blade of the knife.
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Identify stainless flatware with a manufacturer's name by either going to the company website (if the company is still in business), by visiting a website such as Online Stainless or by looking through the pattern book for that manufacturer. The stainless flatware pattern book may be in the research section of the library and not available for checkout, so take a sketch or pencil impression of the design with you.
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Identify stainless flatware that has only a symbol or other design marking by visiting one of the larger collectors websites to examine a chart matching known symbols and initials with the manufacturer of the flatware.
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Identify stainless flatware that does not have any markings by looking through a collector's book named "The Stainless Flatware Guide" by Page and Frederiksen. It has more than 5,000 flatware patterns with detailed photographs from more than 250 manufacturers. If your flatware pattern is not in this book, then take it to an antique dealer who specializes in stainless flatware. You can locate the nearest expert by visiting the US Antique Dealer website and clicking on the link for your state.
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References
- Photo Credit silver forks image by Erika from Fotolia.com
