Set a Beautiful Table With Flatware and Silverware
Unless you are eating a quick finger food meal, you probably use flatware at every meal. If it is time to replace your silverware, then shop for used silverware for sale on eBay, where you can find many antique and vintage flatware options for sale. You can also find a wide variety of patterns when shopping for affordable silverware for sale on eBay.
What types of silverware may be available on eBay?You can find a variety of silverware for sale on eBay. Flatware consists of your eating utensils, like knives, forks, and spoons. Silverware consists of anything made of silver used on your table. When shopping for silverware on eBay, you may find silver-plated silverware. Manufacturers make these pieces with a base metal coated with silver. You will also see sterling silverware that is marked "sterling" or 925/1000 or .925 manufactured after 1850. These pieces are made almost entirely of silver with a very minute amount of copper added.
What common patterns are seen on flatware and silverware?When you shop on eBay for flatware, you will see many different patterns. Many patterns are similar across many different companies, and they varied by the period that they were initially produced:
- Art Deco - These pieces from the 1920s and 1930s, like Cactus by Jensen and Shamrock V by Gorham, have sleek, streamlined forms and geometric patterns.
- Art Nouveau - These pieces from the turn of the 20th century, like Irian by Wallace and Nineteen-O-Nine by Mayer, have flowing lines, flowers, and asymmetrical shapes.
- Arts and Crafts - These pieces from the 1880s, like Butterfly by Frigast and Crusaders by Old Newbury Crafters, have hammering marks and other indications that employees made them by hand.
- Mid-century - These pieces, like Avanti by Celsa and Century by Tiffany, often feature abstract geometric, angular and faceted shapes.
When you shop for new and used silverware on eBay, you may see many unusual items, including:
- Cake breaker - This comb-like piece with its long tines and a long handle was designed to cut through egg white cakes, where a regular cake server might smash the cake.
- Oyster server - This flat, large serving spoon has a zigzag edge that helps gather oysters without breaking them up.
- Bon-bon scoop - The handle on a bon-boon scoop has a large hump in it and a flat head to make it easier to pick up bon-bons.
- Tomato scoops - These large, flat spoons have holes in their heads to let the juice drain off tomato slices.
- Children's hoe - Since it was considered very impolite to touch food with your hands during Victorian times, this short hoe helped children push food onto their spoons.