Direct from Paris: A magnificent antique French 950 sterling silver flatware set by Frances Premier Silversmiths “Puiforcat”, currently owned by Hermes. A gorgeous service for 24 which includes additional Mother-of-Pearl handled dessert and cheese knives, 4 salt cellars with serving spoons and custom-made storage chest, 306 pieces in total – circa late 1800s. The annals of French decorative arts reserve a distinguished chapter for the House of Puiforcat, a name that has become synonymous with the pinnacle of silversmithing excellence since its establishment in 1820. This Parisian firm emerged during a golden age of French craftsmanship, when the demand for luxury tableware among aristocracy and haute bourgeoisie created fertile ground for artistic innovation. Puiforcat distinguished itself through an uncompromising commitment to quality, most notably through its pioneering use of 950 sterling silver, a purer alloy than the conventional 925 standard. The firm's flatware sets, particularly those featuring the elegant filet and laurel garlands motifs, like this stunning set, represent not merely functional tableware but veritable works of art that continue to command admiration and premium prices in the collector's market.
The Early Years: The Puiforcat story begins with Jean-Baptiste Fuchs, who established his silversmith workshop in Paris in 1820 before adopting his mother's surname, Puiforcat. This nominal change marked the beginning of a family dynasty that would dominate French luxury silverware production for generations. The firm initially specialized in ecclesiastical silver and ceremonial objects, but under Jean Puiforcat's leadership during the mid-19th century, it transitioned decisively into the production of luxury flatware and tableware, catering to France's elite.
The firm's workshop became a sanctuary of traditional silversmithing techniques, many dating back to the 18th century. Master craftsmen employed repoussé and chasing methods, painstakingly hammering silver sheets from both sides to create intricate relief designs. For hollowware elements, they utilized the specialized boîtage technique, invisibly joining two perfectly fitted silver shells to achieve ideal weight distribution. Particularly detailed elements, such as the delicate leaves in laurel garland motifs, were crafted using lost-wax casting, ensuring precision down to the most minute details.
Focus on Quality: Quality control at Puiforcat reached nearly obsessive levels. Each piece underwent approximately sixty-seven distinct production stages, with rigorous inspections at fifteen critical checkpoints. Finished items were examined under jeweler's loupes for microscopic imperfections, weighed to a precision of 0.01 grams, and tested for perfect balance on custom-designed fulcrums. Surviving workshop records indicate rejection rates exceeding forty percent for certain complex patterns, a testament to the firm's refusal to compromise on quality. This uncompromising approach resulted in pieces that were not merely beautiful but engineered to functional perfection.
Awards and Accolades: Puiforcat's preeminence in the field received formal recognition through an impressive array of international awards spanning the 19th and 20th centuries. The firm's exhibition strategy focused on presenting technical masterpieces that doubled as works of art, ensuring its dominance at world's fairs and industrial expositions. The breakthrough came at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where Puiforcat's Service Olympien earned the Grand Prix. Judges particularly praised the set's revolutionary fork tines, angled at twelve degrees for optimal food presentation - a design detail that would become a Puiforcat signature. The 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs marked another milestone, as Puiforcat's geometric Moderne tea service earned a Diplôme d'Honneur. Postwar recognition continued with the 1954 Prix René Lalique, awarded for the Ellipse flatware pattern. Most recently, the 2018 Salon International du Patrimoine Culturel honored Puiforcat for its efforts in reviving 19th-century techniques for contemporary production, ensuring the survival of traditional craftsmanship methods.
These accolades translated into commercial success and cultural prestige. By the 1930s, Puiforcat commanded price premiums of thirty to fifty percent over competitors for comparable patterns. The firm's showrooms on Rue Royale and later Place Vendôme became essential destinations for collectors, while acquisitions by institutions like the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art affirmed Puiforcat's place in the canon of decorative arts.
Royal Patronage: Puiforcat's clientele comprised a veritable who's who of European nobility and industrial aristocracy. The firm's ability to maintain favor across France's turbulent political landscape - from Bourbon restorationists to Bonaparte imperialists - testified to both its technical excellence and diplomatic discretion. King Louis-Philippe commissioned the first major royal service in 1837 - the Service des Fêtes, a 480-piece ensemble featuring his monogram entwined with oak leaves. The set's pièce de résistance was a surtout de table with silver-gilt candelabra supported by allegorical figures representing the arts, a masterpiece requiring some 4,700 hours of skilled labor to complete.
Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, became one of Puiforcat's most devoted patrons. Her 1855 Service Impérial included 1,200 pieces adorned with bee motifs (the Bonaparte emblem) executed in a groundbreaking technique combining matte and polished finishes. The service's fish knives incorporated mother-of-pearl blades set in silver channels - an innovation that prevented flavor transfer and for which Puiforcat obtained one of France's first design patents. International royalty followed suit. Tsar Nicholas II commissioned the 600-piece Service Russe in 1896, with handles modeled after Fabergé enamels. England's Edward VII acquired multiple hunting-themed services through his Parisian agents. Puiforcat maintained a discreet cabinet noir - a private design studio for royal clients - that created customized patterns often incorporating hidden symbolism, like the Danish royal service whose floral handles concealed miniature crowns when viewed from specific angles. Check the Noble Crest engraved the handles of the main sterling silver pieces in this set.
The Association with Hermès: The 1993 acquisition of Puiforcat by Hermès marked a transformative chapter in the silversmith's history. This merger of two French luxury giants created powerful synergies - Hermès gained unparalleled metalworking expertise, while Puiforcat accessed global distribution networks and marketing resources. Under Hermès stewardship, Puiforcat maintained its independent workshop in Paris while benefiting from technological advancements. Computer-aided design allowed for precise modeling of ergonomic handles, while laser welding enabled previously impossible joinery techniques. Crucially, Hermès invested in preserving traditional methods - today, Puiforcat remains one of the last houses still training artisans in 18th-century hollowware construction techniques. This partnership also facilitated the revival of archival patterns. Hermès' marketing engine reintroduced Puiforcat's classic 1925 Filet design - originally created for the Maharaja of Patiala - as a limited edition. All fifty sets sold within hours of release despite €150,000 price tags, demonstrating the enduring appeal of Puiforcat's craftsmanship.
Puiforcat’s Filet & Laurel Garlands Flatware Sets: Among Puiforcat's most enduring contributions to decorative arts are its 19th-century flatware sets in 950 sterling silver, particularly those featuring the filet and laurel garlands motifs, as evidenced by this amazing set. These designs represent the apotheosis of French neoclassical style - balanced, harmonious, and exquisitely detailed. The effect was enhanced by Puiforcat's proprietary polishing technique using crushed quartz abrasives, which yielded an unmatched depth of shine. The engineering behind these pieces was revolutionary - hollow silver tubes were inserted through the wreaths to maintain structural integrity without visible supports, a technique that required perfect alignment of multiple components.
What made these services truly extraordinary was their ergonomic innovation. Puiforcat's spoons featured bowl profiles scientifically contoured to match the human mouth's shape, while fork tines were graduated in thickness - thinner at the tips for easy piercing, thicker at the base for leverage. Knife blades used a layered "sandwich" construction with a steel core sheathed in silver, ensuring durability while maintaining tabletop elegance. Complete period services are exceptionally rare today outside of Museums, but this is an amazing set. Truly a rare find.
The Puiforcat Legacy: The House of Puiforcat stands as a monument to French artistic and technical achievement in silversmithing. For two centuries, the firm has balanced reverence for tradition with fearless innovation, creating objects that are equally at home in museum vitrines and on dining tables. Its 19th-century flatware sets, with their filet and laurel garlands motifs, encapsulate this duality - technically miraculous yet effortlessly functional, historically grounded yet timeless in appeal. Under Hermès' stewardship, Puiforcat continues to train artisans in techniques that might otherwise vanish, ensuring that the savoir-faire behind these masterpieces endures. In an era of disposable design, Puiforcat reminds us that true luxury lies in perfection of form, integrity of materials, and above all, the human hands that transform precious metal into enduring art. As collectors increasingly recognize, owning a Puiforcat piece means possessing not just an object, but a chapter in the ongoing story of French excellence - a story that continues to unfold with each meticulously crafted piece emerging from its Paris workshop.
This magnificent set is a stunning testament to the quality and craftsmanship for which the firm is internationally known. Each of the main sterling silver pieces contains the French government’s Head of the Minerva 1 hallmark, certifying a minimum of 950 sterling silver, in addition to the Puiforcat sterling silver manufacturers hallmark. The Mother-of-Pearl handled dessert and cheese knives date from 1809 – 1819, as per their hallmarks and are by a different manufacturer – D.P. - and the manufacturer’s hallmark on the salt cellars and salt spoons is illegible. There are no monograms on any of the pieces. The set includes the following (all weights and measures approximate):
24 Dinner Knives - Stainless Blades 25.00 cm. 81 grams
24 Dinner Forks 21.00 cm. 86 grams
24 Tablespoons 21.70 cm. 89 grams
24 Luncheon Knives - Stainless Blades 20.00 cm. 43 grams
24 Dessert / Luncheon Forks 19.00 cm. 51 grams
24 Dessert / Luncheon Spoons 18.80 cm. 51 grams
24 Dessert Knives - Mother of Pearl Handles & Vermeil Blades (1809-1819) DP Hallmark 18.80 cm. 33 grams
24 Cheese Knives - Mother of Pearl Handles & Acier Blades (1809 - 1819) 20.00 cm. 25 grams
24 Teaspoons 15.00 cm. 21 grams
18 Ice Cream Spoons 14.80 cm. 32 grams
18 Mellon Knives - Sterling Blades 17.40 cm. 26 grams
18 Fish Knives 22.00 cm. 58 grams
18 Fish Forks 18.50 cm. 49 grams
4 Sale Cellars with Glass Interiors 6.50 cm. 64 grams
4 Salt Spoons 6.80 cm. 5 grams
1 Large Fish Serving Knife - Sterling Blade 30.20 cm. 133 grams
1 Large Meat Serving Knife - Stainless Blade 32.20 cm. 130 grams
1 Large Meat Serving Fork 27.50 cm. 156 grams
1 Large Cake / Pie Serving Knife - Sterling Blade 27.50 cm. 138 grams
1 Large Ice Cream Serving Scoop - Sterling Bowl 25.00 cm. 115 grams
1 Cheese Serving Knife - Stainless Blade 19.50 cm. 46 grams
1 Butter Serving Knife - Stainless Blade 19.50 cm. 49 grams
1 Small Serving Knife - Stainless Blade 19.00 cm. 44 grams
1 Large Soup / Stew Serving Ladle 32.00 cm. 252 grams
1 Large Serving Spoon 26.80 cm. 122 grams
