October 25, 2011

Southern Collections: Sterling Souvenirs

DSC03276
Some people go on vacation and relax by the shore…I do enjoy a bit of relaxing, but my favorite vacation pastime is thrifting!  This way, while those relaxing, shore-sitting people come home with a t-shirt or mug, I come home with vintage ironstone and silverware. My most recent trip resulted in some new-old treasures I wanted to share.

I was attracted to the spoon because of its twisting design and thought it might be perfect for serving some type of sauce or jam out of a little dish (condiment jars never go directly on the table…per my southern belle grandmother’s way).

I snatched up the silver plate butter spreader because of its S monogram (for my last name) and the simple pattern allows it to easily mesh with my other silverware.

DSC03278

The relish fork is a piece of ‘hotel silver’ (presumably from the Hotel Rowe in Grand Rapids, Michigan) . I don’t have any particular connection with the hotel, but I liked this piece because I’ve always wanted some hotel silver and never stumbled upon any ‘til now.

DSC03283

The finds of the trip were these curious little forks which I think would also have been used for pickles or other relish items. The one on the left has a golden tint and is marked “Montagne Italy.” The back has a tiny fleur de lis, but these boogers were just so hard to photograph.

The right fork is my favorite…only about 3.5 inches in length with a small figure on the end. It sort of looks like a mermaid (or perhaps a baby, wrapped up?). Anytime I find something so unique, I am intrigued about where it came from and who might have used it. Have any of you seen any utensils like these before? I’d love to know more about them.