Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1889-06-01
COSTLY SILVERWARE.
FORTUNES SPENT IN THE eEAuTl-
FIJI DESIGNS MADE TODAY.


No Longer Necessary to Go Abroad for
Artistic Silverware--Rich and Quiet In
Figure and work-Pricss Paid for Some
Of the Pretty Things.
Never before has American silverware oc-
cupied the position it does today. It Is UNI
squaled the world over. Twenty years ago
rich Americans bought great ugly pieces
abroad, and treasured them as marvcls Of
the silversmith's art Now the American
who wishes to furnish his sideboard with the
richest decorated ware buys at home, and
silver Of American workmanship is used In
dozens Of noble, and not q few royal, homes
Of Europe, Prices are sometimes enormous
Dinner sets at IS Ooo. 90 900, g 900 and $4,000
are not unusual. A pair Of candelabra, about
twenty inches high, may cost from $500
to 81 900. This particular article is much in
demand now by reason Of the increased use
Of candles for lighting dinner tables, and can
delabra at these prices have . constant SALE
The rage for enriching articles Of common
use with silver has reached probably its
greatest height Silver toilet articles are
among those most in demand. Here Is q
hairbrush, the bristles set in solid silver.
cate ornamental design. The price is $75.
You may buy them at $50, $40, $50, $50
Whole sets, including the brush and half a
dozen small Objects sell for $500 or $500. These
are by no means the most expensive. Rich
people who put q years moderate income into
trifes such as these have sets made to order
from special designs, at $1,000, $2,5O0 and
$780, It would he hard to name limit for
the price Of objects In silver since the art Of
decorating that metal has been brought to its
present perfection.
COST OF DINNER SET.
A recent freak is for pretty little articles
| In silver with humorous or aRectionate mot
| toes etched upon the metal There are doz-
! ems, perhaps hundreds, Of such objects, and
| artists are constantly at work suggesting new
designs to be applied to other articles It
would be hard to name any trifling object Of
daily use that has not thus been made luxury.
Here is a coffee pot holding, perhaps, three
pints It is repousse work. The whole sur
| face is hammered into forms Of leaf and bios
som. All this work is done by the patient
toll of an artist-artisan, under the guidance
Of designer who knows just what can and
cannot be done with the malleable metals
| You would think that the blossoms in silver
had been cast and then affixed to the body of
the vessel, but oil was wrought by steady
hammering upon solid metal It took tho
workman probably six months to turn out
this piece. The price is 81 500. If any one
had the temerity to order whole dinner
service of such ware the price might easily
be $4,000 or $4,000. Here is a smaller pot
Of the same ware Chrysanthemums, beau
tifully wrought, crowd tho whole surface. 1t
cost enough to purchase poor mans home.
In these it is the delicate handiwork that
makes the price so high. There is great
silver punch bowl containing ten times as
much silver as either pot, but the price is only
$500. Punch bowls, by the way, are not SO
popular now as they were with our ancestors,
though they are still manufactured The
largest one have seen was marked a, 600
When rich New Yorker has a mind to in
dulge in all expensive bit of table ware he
does not buy a 1900 punch bowl Perhaps
he pays twice as much for a repousse tea set
1t is not long since two gold trays were
bought at $4,000 each. Here is q tete-a-tett
tea set-just little teapot, cream pitcher
and a bowl. The price is 81 500 A good
many Of the kind are sold. If you woulo
be just right, You may buy enameled silver
spoons at $500 q dozen, or fish knives at 500 {
dozen, or tiny silver cups for after dinner cot.
fee at $50 each. One rich New Yorker serves
terrapiu to his friends in silver tureens made
in exact imitation Of the terrapin. You Lift
the silver shell thai serves as lid, and there is
the steaming delcacy. Gold spoons with
round bowls accompany the tureens. Such ,
service costs hardly less than 81 200. 1t i
used only for serving terrapin.
) Designs for all these things are studiet
from nature. An aquarium furnishes living
specimens of reptiles, fish and water plants
and blooming natural flowers constant.
guide the artist in his work.
One Of the oldest objects is loving GU
, decorated in the style of native Indian art
The body of the cup represents gourd. Tn
handles are shaped like the horns of a but
falo; the feet represent the head and foreleg
of the same animal The bowl is perfectl
smooth, save for designs in relief Of India
dances and curious streaks Of copper and en-
amel Nothing of the kind was ever mad
before.
SUPERIOR TO TIE RUSSIAN ARTICLE.
:. American work in enameled silver present
an interesting contrast to Russian ware c
;, this sort. The Russians have been doing wor
of the kind for many years, but the effect
crude and bizarre. The whole surface glitte,
! with half dozen colors and fire gliding give
, the impression of a glaze. American enan
. eled silver is rich and quiet in design, withou
}. glare or glitter. It far exceeds the Russia
J.. in cost Half dozen little coffee cups, saucer
and spoons in American enameled silver ar
e marked $500. Even the extravaganza {
). American millionaires hats at such article
as these Nobody buys full dinner set {
t such ware 1t is best seen in small piece
e Accordingly you find little hqucur cups, holt
ing three thimblefuls, at $l2 or SIS eacl
Sometimes native pearls are set in the si1ve
Often little teapot Of such ware is marke
$1,000. II you order such things made frol
your own special designs, the price is highel
8 This is not unusual.