Small Pleasures: Guest Soap

by Nan Stuckwisch

Guest soap in a coaster

Guest soaps

…are one of my small pleasures. Normally I’m a fan of liquid soap in a dispenser, but when we have guests all that goes out the window in favor of teeny, tiny little triple-milled soaps. The one in the photo above was from a set given to me as a hostess gift.  It’s a darling little thing, shaped like a pillow. On one side it is engraved bonne nuit, on the other bonjour.

The downside of teeny, tiny little triple-milled guest soaps though, is the problem of where to hold them. Unlike the self-contained liquid soaps, the little ones have to be corralled otherwise they end up sliding everywhere. Does it seem to you that they slide even when on the flattest of surfaces?

My solution is to use a vintage sterling silver and crystal coaster. These were made from the turn of the 20th century until about the 1960′s…lots of people have them, or remember their parents having some. They come in all sorts of variations, from highly decorated sterling to plain silver plate. Unfortunately, none of my glasses fit into them. The bases are all too large.

As I can’t bear to get rid of them, I’m always coming up with alternate solutions. This time I thought one would be the perfect container for my little soap.

A perfect small pleasure, now the only question is should I leave it on bonne nuit or bonjour for my guests?

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Nancy Stuckwisch of Silver Magpies has had a life-long fascination with vintage silver. She believes we should get the silver out of the cupboard, onto the table, and then into the dishwasher.

In addition to writing for The Daily Basics, Nancy also blogs on her own website and is a regular columnist for Silver magazine and  writes about Silver in Arlington for Examiner.com

Have a Meal and Use a Real Fork

 by Nan Stuckwisch

Food is more than fuel, and yet so often it’s easy to forget that. Like everyone who reads this post, my time is a precious commodity and there never seems to be quite enough of it to go around. One of the simplest ways to squeeze a few more minutes out of each day to to eat on the run or at your desk and multi-task. But it’s a habit we all really need to break.

A typical weekday place setting!

Sitting down to dine is an opportunity to savor, relax and reflect, and connect with our family and friends. I keep reading articles about mindless eating, hurried meals and all the personal health and societal ills to which it contributes.

So in an imperfect world where we are rushed and harried, juggling work, house, kids, and significant others,  what can we do?

A key component of my personal philosophy is don’t let perfect become the enemy of good. That’s why my sterling flatware is my everyday flatware. It goes in the dishwasher instead of waiting in the flatware chest for the day when someone is going to be able to hand wash it after every meal.

I’m not willing to forgo the pleasure of using my silver just because I can’t clean it in the ‘optimal’ fashion. It doesn’t get stored in the traditional way either. If I had to open the silver chest every time I wanted a piece, I’d never get it out. Instead it lives in French jam jars on the kitchen counter, in easy reach for everyone, my young son included.

Keep the silver handy. Who has time to dig it out? Keep it nearby so you can just use it.

Eating dinner, not grabbing a bite

After a long period of trial and error, attempting to balance ‘perfect’ with reality, this is what I’ve come up with.

• Eat regularly.
• Sit down at a table. No eating at your desk, in the car or while standing at the kitchen counter.
• Use a real plate or bowl and silverware.
• No distractions at the table. No books, iPad, or phone.
• If someone else is there, actually converse with them.

The Dining Room from the BBC series Downton Abbey...let's revise our expectations a bit.

This is not to say that every meal at my house looks like a dining room scene from Downton Abbey. Yes, the place settings are sterling silver, but that’s where the similarities end. Instead of multiple pieces per place setting to accommodate the multi-course meal, usually there is only a single spoon or knife and fork. Sometimes even the knife doesn’t make an appearance!

It’s rarely more than one course, and to be honest, especially if I’m by myself, it’s consumed very quickly. Fast eating is a terrible habit I developed in boarding school that I’ve never managed to break.

The benefits

Absolutely no eating at my desk or while standing has resulted in a lot less eating. Am I really so hungry that I want to leave what I’m doing to sit at the table and have a snack? The answer is usually no!

Using the silverware makes eating a deliberate act. Whether it’s all three of us sitting down to a weekend meal, or just my son and I having a weeknight dinner while Mr. Magpies works late. When we eat together I realize all of the things we are missing out on compared to eating alone. We connect, learn and laugh and set a positive example for our son.

By placing meals back into a designated time and place, and at least using some of the traditional accoutrements, to use an old cliche, it puts the emphasis on ‘quality not quantity’.

And besides, what would be the fun of having all this wonderful silver, if I never took the opportunity to use it. Because we have to make and take our own opportunities, no one else will do it for us.

.

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Nancy Stuckwisch of SilverMagpies.com has had a life-long fascination with vintage silver. She believes we should get the silver out of the cupboard, onto the table, and then into the dishwasher.

In addition to writing for The Daily Basics, Nancy also blogs on her own website and is a regular columnist for Silver magazine and writes about Silver in Arlington for Examiner.com

Enamel silverware: A burst of color

The Renaissance Egg Presented by Tsar Alexander III to his wife the Empress Maria Feodorovna at Easter 1894. From the Forbes family collection sold at auction in 2004.

If you ask people what color they associate with silver, undoubtedly you would receive lots of incredulous looks and perhaps a comment or two along the lines of ‘well, silver is the color I associate with silver’. Little do most people know, but enamel silverware brightly illuminates one corner of the rich, ripe, and luscious topic that is antique and vintage silver.

Imagine a spectrum of color representing the entire world of silver. The vast majority of it is the soft, muted silvery grey we are all familiar with. Moving towards the end though, and begin to catch glimmers of warmth as pale gold-washes appear, perhaps flirting with us on the end of a spoon. Before too long the gold-washes get brighter and brighter, like an unexpected daffodil in the midst of winter. The gold-washing is there to ease our transition, so we don’t go into shock at suddenly finding ourselves surrounded by vivid color in every shade the rainbow has to offer.

Gold-wash

Gold-wash is literally a thin coating of gold applied to the surface of a silver piece for decorative or protective purposes. Gold is non-reactive and does not tarnish like silver. As mentioned above gold-washes can be pale and delicate or vivid and bright.

Enamel, guilloche, and cloisonné on silverware

The real fun begins when we look at enamel, guilloche, and cloisonné (all three terms are used interchangeably, although each has it’s own specific definition). This decorative technique worked gradually worked it’s way from Ancient Egypt and the Byzantine Empire, to Cyprus in the 12th century and China in the 14th century. It was in the Age of Opulence, the late-Victorian era, that this art form found real popularity in the West. Artisans drew upon the exotic and eye-catching Near Eastern origins of cloisonné to catch the fancy of deep-pocketed members of society.

European and American enamel silverware of the Age of Opulence

Blue enamel cufflinks, bisected by a thin line of gold-washed silver.

The most common examples of Western enamel silverware are personal items, such as pens, cufflinks, ladies compacts and crystal and silver jars for the dressing table. Many of these pieces use the guilloche techniques, which separates the surface of the silver into little compartments that are then filled layer by layer with color. Guilloche has an almost holographic effect as you change the angle from which you view it.

Russian enamel silverware

From Czarist Russia the best and largest selection of enamel silverware of the modern era originates. Think Faberge egg and you are on the right track. The tankard below is one tiny example of tens of thousands of bright and brilliant enamel pieces. This magnificent tankard is a recent gift to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, which has recently been the generous recipient of the Russian enamel silver collection of Mrs. Jean Riddell. Reputedly this is the largest and finest collection of it’s type in the Americas. An exhibit is scheduled to open in 2015. I look forward to seeing it first-hand!

Firm of Pavel Ovchinnikov, Russian (Moscow), Tankard, 1888–96, gilt, filigree and plique-á-jour enamel silver, Bequest of Mrs. Jean M. Riddell, 2010, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

Scandinavia and the Mid-Mod period

Tostrup demitasse spoon entirely gold-washed with a turquoise guilloche handle.

Enamel silverware had a lull in popularity after the Victorian era until the 1960′s when it emerged again, this time as a favorite of Scandinavian silversmiths. The most commonly found items are enamel silver teaspoons and bowls.  The great firms Tostrup and Georg Jensen produced many outstanding examples in this medium, but fabulous pieces can be found in all colors and price points from a variety of Norwegian, Danish and Swedish firms and smiths.

As with so much mod design, where Scandinavia led the rest of the world followed, soon enamel silverware was being produced that were obvious homage or outright copies (depending on your point of view).

A mid-century cocktail fork and spoon, made in Mexico. This set shows the wonderful patterns that can be made in the enamel using the guilloche techniques.

The recent upsurge in popularity of mid-century design in general, these enamel silverware pieces have once again found favor.

Why don’t you take a look and see for yourself?

Nancy Stuckwisch of Silver Magpies has had a life-long fascination with vintage silver. She believes we should get the silver out of the cupboard, onto the table, and then into the dishwasher.

In addition to writing for The Daily Basics, Nancy also blogs on her own website and is a regular columnist for Silver magazine and writes about Silver in Arlington for Examiner.com

The Basics of Caring for your Silver

Louis XV forks, after a couple (possibly several) years of the dishwasher on a daily basis and no polish.

The holidays have come and gone, and hopefully you have not put your silver back into storage to wait for the next special occasion. In my personal, as well as professional experience as an antique silver dealer, the number one reason people do not use their silver more often is concern that caring for it is going to be too time consuming.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Silver has been used for eating and serving utensils for thousands of years. This tradition of creation and use has endured because silver excels at the task. If it had been too onerous to care for our ancestors would have abandoned the practice long ago.

Caring for your antique and vintage silver simply consists of keeping it clean and tarnish free. If you use it frequently and keep it clean, then polishing really becomes a very occasional task. The more you use your silver the less you polish it. Cleaning your silver is no more complicated than cleaning any other item in your kitchen.

Cleaning

Like any other piece of flatware, silver needs to be cleaned with soap and water after every use. Despite all the warnings to the contrary, silver can safely go in the dishwasher. Mine does, every single day. I recently wrote a status update on the condition of my silver after several years of daily use and dish-washing.

A few commonsense guidelines will keep your sterling silver safe in the dishwasher

• Only solid pieces (forks, spoons, etc) go in the dishwasher. If it has a glue join (like a knife) or the handle is made of a different material it should not go in the dishwasher. This is not to protect the silver, but rather to ensure that the glue that holds the knife and the blade together does not weaken through prolonged exposure to hot water. FYI, exactly the same principle applies when hand-washing these pieces. Do not soak knives or other glued pieces because this will weaken that join!
• Find a dishwasher detergent that does not have any citrus scent or any phosphates. Many brands have a variety that fits these requirements and they are easily available in grocery stores or shops like Target. Personally, I use Method brand, but there are plenty of alternatives.
• Do not mix stainless and sterling. This simply means do not let the two come into actual physical contact. Both can be in the dishwasher at the same time, just separate the sterling and the stainless using the compartments in the flatware caddy.
• Do not put silver plate in the dishwasher! Silver plate is much more delicate than sterling and will suffer if run through the dishwasher.

To download a handy printout click here -> Silver in the Dishwasher

Polishing

Polishing should only be a very occasional task. It is done mainly to remove tarnish. If you use your silver regularly, tarnish never has a chance to build-up.

Other methods of tarnish removal

Other frequently mentioned methods of tarnish removal include dips and the boiling water bath. Let me say I am not a proponent of either of these methods. First and foremost, I’ve never come across a piece so tarnished that it can’t be restored to glory by using regular polish.

The chemical dips are very harsh and using them on pieces that we then eat from always makes me pause. I prefer to use wash on, wash off polishes so I am absolutely certain that no trace of it remains.

There are many versions of the metal plate or foil tarnish removal. They all involve the use of aluminum lining a non-reactive bowl, baking soda, salt and very hot water. The process works by causing a chemical reaction that transfers the tarnish from the silver to the aluminum. The silver and the other metal must come into direct contact for that to occur. The real danger here is not getting the temperature of the water correct.

If it is too cool, the reaction does not occur. If it is too hot, it can cause discoloration of the silver – a white-ish discoloration occurs. It’s very difficult to describe, but once you have seen it you’ll never forget!

By coincidence someone contacted me about this problem via Facebook. She has a couple of pieces in the Aegean Weave pattern that were cleaned this way. Well, not only did it take every single speck of tarnish off – which in this case was a bad thing, as Aegean Weave needs some tarnish in the low spots to make the pattern stand out – but it also left behind this white-ish color. In an amusing reversal of the normal order, that we have been busy trying various methods to put some tarnish back on!

The bottom line

Caring for your silver is not a complicated or time-consuming process. When used and cleaned regularly silver never gets a chance to tarnish…so to avoid that major (and dreaded) once-every-couple-of-years chore, use and enjoy it every day.

Nancy Stuckwisch of Silver Magpies has had a life-long fascination with vintage silver. She believes we should get the silver out of the cupboard, onto the table, and then into the dishwasher.

In addition to writing for The Daily Basics, Nancy also blogs on her own website and is a regular columnist for Silver magazine and writes about Silver in Arlington for Examiner.com

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