What kind of knife turns up most often?

Butter knives. Butter is named in about a quarter of all titles under this heading, and they appear as singles, as pairs, and in cased sets with matching dishes. Mother-of-pearl-handled fruit and dessert knives are the other large group, and they account for most of the boxed sets.

Are knife rests part of this category?

Yes, and they make up close to one in eleven titles. They're sold in pairs, sets of six and sets of twelve. Materials include cut glass, bone and ivory. The figural ones get adventurous: rampant lions, longhorn bulls, goats, rams, sphinxes, butterflies and ducks, and a set of twelve French Art Deco rests illustrating Aesop's Fables.

How old are most pieces listed?

The dealer date field runs from 1750 to 1960. Victorian is the largest single group, followed by Edwardian and then the 1900s, 1920s and 1930s decade tags, with Georgian a smaller presence. Titles reach further at both ends, including a filigree knife and fork set in a shagreen case described as late 17th century, and commemorative letter openers dated 1953 and 1962.

Is everything under this heading solid silver?

No. Sterling and solid silver dominate, but a visible minority is silver plated, and plated pieces are named as such in titles. Old Sheffield plate, fused silver on copper, shows up mainly on knife trays and earlier plated items.

Which assay offices appear on these knives?

Sheffield leads by a wide margin in titles, with Birmingham next and London after that. Provincial and foreign marks are the outliers, with single appearances for Inverness, Oban, York, Cork, and for Maltese, Russian, Egyptian, Danish and Dutch work.

Do unusual combination knives come up?

They do, though each seems to appear once and then not again. A fruit knife with a button hook, a knife with a pencil, a cigar cutter and knife, a watch pen knife with key. Also recorded: a silver swiss army knife, a bloodletting fleam set, and a paper knife with a perpetual calendar.

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Antique Silver Knives

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A broad group of small silver and silver-mounted cutting pieces for the table and the desk, from butter knives and mother-of-pearl fruit knives to fish servers, letter openers and knife rests.