Gorham Sterling Silver Cutlery Set in Mahogany Canteen

An impressive 184 piece set of American silver cutlery in a large fitted mahogany canteen, 'Old French' pattern; comprising 12 each: dinner knives and forks, luncheon knives and forks, salad forks, cocktail forks, bouillon spoons, teaspoons, citrus or orange spoons, dessert spoons, oval soup spoons, strawberry forks, oyster forks and butter spreaders; along with six fruit knives, five serving spoons, carving knives, forks and steel. By Gorham Sterling, circa 1904, with retailer's mark for Spaulding & Co., each piece crested with a lion rampant on a field gules within a cartouche ermine, surmounted by a knight's helm. Weight approx. 5.75kg excluding all knives and carvers.

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Canteen - A small cabinet, table or a box with drawers or lift out trays, for storing a set of cutlery.
Cartouche - An ornamental panel in the form of of a shield, oval or rectangular scroll with curling edges. It may be carved into the back of a chair or the top of a sideboard, or present on a piece of silver or jewellery, and contain the initials of the original owner, heraldic symbols, or some other inscription, such as the details of a presentation.

In ceramics the term defines the central area of a vase or similar with a decorative border in one of the shapes above, into which a decorative scene or figures have been painted.
Mahogany - Mahogany is a dense, close grained red-coloured timber from the West Indies and Central America. It was first imported into Europe in the the early 18th century and its use continued through the 19th century. It was popular for furniture making because of its strength, the wide boards available, the distinctive grain on some boards, termed flame mahogany and the rich warm colour of the timber when it was polished.. The "flame" was produced where a limb grew out from the trunk of the tree, and this timber was usually sliced into veneers for feature panels on doors, backs and cornices.

Some terms used to describe mahogany relate to the country from which it originally came, such as "Cuban" mahogany, "Honduras" mahogany etc. However unless the wood has been tested the names assigned are more a selling feature, rather than a true indication of the timber's origin.
Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.

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