Its obvious

Last week I took a drive to Pottery Barn in Richmond. I was looking for a couch but found myself liking their antique style serving peices until I noticed the engraving on them.

Forks that say "Fork" and pitchers that say things like "Pour" and "Drink" on them seemed really stupid to me.

After I returned home, I began rummaging through my collection of antique silver and hotel-silver and it dawned on me that the most ornate Victorian pieces often have an obvious motif.

Like this berry spoon with embossed berries in the bowl.

This fish fork with a fish.

These forks are of different sizes as would be appropriate for different size fish. The flat, spatulate design of the tines is for delicately removing the fish from the bones to serve it.

These spoons are for sugaring berries as opposed to scooping them up like the ones without holes.

This baby spoon reads, of course "baby" and because it was my grandfather's I happen to know that the gift giver was being impatient by not waiting to find out the baby's name and not obvious.

Not all of these items have obvious motifs but they do have in common beautiful engraving.

Meg, at Pigtown*Design did a post on similar engraved Victorian silverware including some marvelous fish knives that are for sale in her Etsy boutique.