I had recently learned the silverplate pattern name that the Internaional Silver Company paired with Wexford in two of the sets I have.
Interlude.
Tina Spain MacDuffie gave me the name and confirmed that my second little votive cup jam server came with the correct spoon (the first had no spoon with it in the listing). Then I found a butter service set IOB with an image that confirmed Interlude was the correct knife.
Part of the appeal of Wexford was the low-cost, mass produced ‘Fake Fancy’ of it. Anchor Hocking made their presscut glass patterns to offer a take on fancy cut European lead crystal with a broader availability due to its affordability. When I started collecting Wexford fifteen to twenty years ago, it was the same thing repeated in the thrift stores: it was everywhere and it was incredibly affordable, often sitting on the shelves long enough to hit the five-for-a-buck in the fifth week.
With my initiaal online search for Interlude flatware last week, I experienced something similar: numerous large lot listings for reasonable per piece costs. Nearing the end of my Broad search for Wexford, I found me next affordable “Fake Fancy” obsession. I mean, it isn’t sterling, it’s silverplate. It was International Silver Co.’s affordable, mass-produced answer to fancy, expensive sterling flatware. It made fancy available to a broader range of household budgets, and now I have a broadly available second-hand take on fancy flatware that fits my broadly available, affordable fancy prescut glass collection, and at least twice was officially paired with it by a third-party company.
A quick measure confirmed that the little jam server used the Interlude demitasse spoon: found, bought and paid for! I realized that the larger Wexford lookalike jam serves I had, which either came with a basic, plain-stamped spoon or none at all, would look best with the Interlude teaspoons: found, bought and paid for!
The teaspoons showed up first.
The demitasse spoons should arrive shortly. Also, I found an eighty-two piece lot of Interlude flatware at an incredibly reasonably per piece price. It should also arrive shortly. And then there are numerous serving utensils, nearly all found, many bought and arriving soon enough. And. And. And…
LOL
I understand the limits of silverplate versus sterling flatware. I know that it cannot take as many rounds of polish as sterling can. I am looking into proper tarnish-resistant flatware rolls for long-term storage. Much of what I have found seems to have been well-kept and appears to free of heavy tarnish. I will wrap and seal it until I select the proper flatware rolls.
After the photoshoot, of course.
I adore our daily stainless flatware we use for casual meals, but I am excited to have a Wexford-level fancy option to pull out for special occasions.
wexford: a study 