{Set of 8 Antique Christofle Knife Rests with 4-Balls}

Perfect Antique Christofle silver plated knife rests in a set of 8. 

'Prestigious commissions from royalty and heads of state, including King Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III, and the supply of silver for grand hotels, ocean liners, trains and airlines bear witness to the house's success and reputation. The most respected French and European museums have pieces by Christofle in their permanent collections as well as it has for years at Christofle Heritage.

So, if you cannot vacation on such a luxury ocean liner, or on the Orient Express nor stay at grand hotels; there is still a chance for creating that romantic touch inside your own home! Just go to my Spectenoir←click it. Christofle knife rests are very rare and at present not even available at Replacements Ltd. 

This Table Setting is with Royal Albert Princess Anne and is available at Replacements Ltd. The Flatware is by Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet. Napkin with rose in ton-sur-ton is by Le Jacquard Français.

These oval and round Christofle napkin rings are all sold out...

These 8 knife rests are in perfect condition!

They rest on 2 of their 4 balls; 4-boules.

Hall mark from Christofle France on all 8.

Top left you can see this 4-boules model.

Sorry Sold out...

{Antique Christofle Knife Rests in Fleur de Lys}

Another French treasure to show you here. Antique Christofle knife rests from the end of the 19th century, with a Fleur de Lys pattern. A rare quantity of 14 this time, available in 8 and 6 piece sets. They will be perfect for saving your precious table linens from getting soiled. Shown here as a table setting with Royal Albert Friendship Daffodil China and Le Jacquard Français table linen. Resting on this knife rest is my Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet flatware.

Can you imagine that in 1883 Christofle did equip the Orient Express with their silver ware? What a luxury life for the Avant Garde... And in 1898 they equiped the Ritz Paris with fine silver ware. In 1935 Christofle realized 45,000 pieces designed by Luc Lanel for the Luxury Liner Normandie. That was a cruise ship like the Titanic... what a dream life for the upper class! Those Luc Lanel pieces I also have shown 11 Vintage French Christofle Luc Lanel 'Ondulation' Knife Rests.
These Christofle knife rests are available at my: Spectrenoir

From the book Christofle by David Rosenberg you also can learn about the above mentioned history. It is shown in the blog with the Luc Lanel design, link is above. 

Photos were taken on March 9, hence the paperwhite narcissus...

It is shown here on page 21 from the Christofle 1842-1883 catalogue, as number 3364 Porte-couteaux ferrure.

I received this copy from a friendly Frenchman! Wish I had the entire catalogue...

Left you see the old hall mark in a diamond shape with a bee below, a C (for Charles Christofle) to the left and to the right, a scale in-between with stars above. Separately in block letters the word Christofle.

Rather hard to capture... you cannot get near the hallmark with your camera because of the four Fleur de Lys.

Owning such a piece does cover quite some history.

This Maker's Mark is from the 2nd half of the 19th century.

Fourteen of them and some do have the hall mark to the right.

Only 8 are available at Spectrenoir... 6 are sold!

Today, as in the past, whether gracing the tables of emperors, princes or maharajas, in palaces, on board the Trans-Siberian Railway, Orient Express or transatlantic ocean liners or in contemporary restaurants, Christofle continues to make an impression.

Sorry Sold out...

{LOOK: My Christofle Photo was published in The Herald-Dispatch}

For my Zen Cart on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics, where I did sell antique and vintage Christofle silver from France, among many unique items, I do often research on line, if the info is not in my Christie's or Sotheby's catalogs, or books I have. I was quite surprised the other day to run into my own photo on line, used (without my permission!) in an article by Jean McClelland who writes for The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, West Virginia, about antiques. Her title: Knife rests created to protect table linens, now reflect fine living. It was published on April 3, 2011 and my original content: {6 Antique French Christofle Coquille Knife Rests in Box} was from March 1, 2011.

A perfect example of Scraped Content...

Well, she even had the nerve to write underneath my photo (above part of my stolen under title, see below photo in this post): "Courtesy of Mariette's Back to Basics Boutique". Without providing the audience the information, necessary for finding the source (Mariette's Back to Basics).

This is Netiquette at its worst! From my information and foot-work; my photo and by NOT including a link back to my Zen Cart on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics, she's surely sealing her verdict as being 'guilty' of plagiarism! IF, just in case it would be true, I had granted her permission to use it, she would graciously have put my Boutique's website together with her the article.

First I thought I have to write her Editor and Publisher, Mr. Ed Dawson, but thinking about it, I decided to just put it here on my blog. Of course Pieter and I have had many instances where we came across our own photo material, used by someone worldwide. Plagiarism is nothing new, but nevertheless it is an act of fraud as it is stealing someone else's work and lying about it. Ms. McClelland tried to be cunning in tricking everybody about having asked permission to use this...

"Ms. McClelland: the article did surely reflect fine living but your behavior however does not reflect fine mannerism!"
Obviously, The Herald Dispatch has removed her article...

This rare set of 6 antique French Christofle knife rests in Coquille pattern, is perfect for saving your precious table linens from getting soiled.

{11 Vintage French Christofle Luc Lanel 'Ondulation' Knife Rests}

From France I bring you these vintage Christofle knife rests in a pleated pattern, as a set of eleven. No box available this time but they are in very good condition, considering their age. This is designed by Luc Lanel in the 1930s and is called 'Ondulation'. Look at: Christie's LUC LANEL (1893-1965) at Luc Lanel's 'Ondulation' champagne coolers with an ice pail, sold at Christie's. These rare 1930s Art Deco knife rests are available at my Zen Cart powered on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics.

They are perfect for keeping your precious table linens from getting soiled. An ideal wedding gift that will become a treasured family heirloom. Please do also see my previous post about 6 Antique French Christofle Coquille Knife Rests in Box as well as 6 Antique French Christofle Gallia Knife Rests -- in Art Deco ← click on the hyperlinks to find out more.

The place mat is Le Jacquard Français in a damask rose pattern. The flatware is Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet and the china is English Rose from Royal Doulton. ← just click the hyperlinks.

Without flash gives the best natural color, the previous photo was taken with flash light...

O + Chess Knight + C and Christofle hallmark as you can see more in detail below and on the following website, click → ASCAS and scroll down to 10.

On page 73 and 74 of the book Christofle (Memoire) by David Rosenberg (Hardcover - Jun 15, 2006) you can read the following information:
1860: In France a law is passed requiring hallmarks for pieces of silver plate.
1883: Christofle outfits the Orient Express.
1935: Christofle creates a 45,000 piece service for te Normandie ocean liner. On page 77 you see the photo description about The Normandie ocean liner with mention of Transat champagne bucket, first class section of the Normandie, Luc Lanel for Christofle, 1933.

Indeed, Christofle is a symbol of luxury and elegance...

Sorry Sold out... 

{6 Antique French Christofle Coquille Knife Rests in Box}

From France, I got this original box with 6 'Porte Couteaux' in Coquille pattern by Christofle.

This rare set of 6 antique French Christofle knife rests in Coquille pattern, is perfect for saving your precious table linens from getting soiled. Shown here with my Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet flatware.
Available at my Zen Cart powered on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics. Please do see my previous post about 6 Antique French Christofle Gallia Knife Rests  (← click it) for more info about Christofle.

 

For those of you that want a set of twelve; on eBay there is still one available from another seller!

 

You better check at my Zen Cart powered on line boutique: Mariette's Back to Basics for a better deal...

Sorry Sold out...

{6 Antique French Christofle Gallia Knife Rests -- in Art Deco}

From France, I got this original box with 6 'Porte Couteaux' in Art Deco Arabesque pattern by Christofle Gallia.

This rare set of 6 antique French Christofle Gallia knife rests in Art Deco Arabesques, is perfect for saving your precious table linens from getting soiled.
I do have several types of Christofle knife rests. Also the model shown here I do have for 12 or more. THANKS!

Gallia Metal, an improved Silver Plate, was introduced by Christofle at the 1900 Paris Exposition and used extensively on Art Deco ware.

Seldom you will find a set of six perfect knife rests in their original box (I got a second one for completing a service of 12).
Below you see how such a knife rest is being used. It is holding the first course knife (r); the fish knife for a second course (c) and the knife used for the entrée (l).
 Shown with my Gero Zilmeta 528 Menuet on pure linen damask Yves Delorme placemats and napkin and Cream Color on Cream Color by Wedgwood.  ← Just click on the red hyperlink!

Even today, Christofle is still producing knife rests. See here on my Pinterest with link to Christofle—Silver–Plated Set of 2 Knife Rests ←click link.

That means, they are still very much en Vogue.

All the Christofle marks are clearly visible here.

The original brochure!

If you want to learn more about the history of knife rests, check: The History of Knife Rests

They sometimes do auction off for quite a high amount as shown here below at Christie's.

Both values are from the 90s as they also do list still the Dutch Guilder sign 'f' for the top auction. That indicates that it was before 2000. At present there are no listings at Christie's for Christofle Gallia knife rests; but you can surely get them at: Spectrenoir

SORRY SOLD OUT!