Cardeilhac French Sterling Silver 79-Piece Flatware Set in Louis XVI Pattern

Cardeilhac, French 0.950 (higher purity than sterling) silver flatware set in the celebrated Louis XVI pattern from the early 20th century. Named after France's last monarch, this pattern epitomizes the grandeur of neoclassical French style. The set consists of:

• 12 dinner forks measuring 8 1/4'' in length
• 12 luncheon forks measuring 7'' in length
• 12 dinner knives with stainless steel blades measuring 9 1/3'' in length
• 12 all-silver luncheon knives measuring 7 5/8'' in length
• 11 tablespoons measuring 8 3/8'' in length
• 8 dessert spoons measuring 7 1/8'' in length
• 12 teaspoons with faintly gilt wash bowls measuring 4 5/8'' in length

Total approximate silver weight including 1 troy ounce per dinner knife is 141 troy ounces. Each piece bears hallmarks as shown. 

The house Cardeilhac was founded by Antoine-Vital Cardeilhac in 1804. From 1851 until 1885, his son Armand-Edouard ran the company and in 1885 his grandson, Ernest Cardeilhac became head of the company. It was with Ernest Cardeilhac that gold and silversmithing was introduced to the firm.

Amélie, Armand-Edouard’s widow, ran the company’s division for the manufacturing of platework from 1904 until 1913 at 24 place Vendôme, a prestigious address renowned for luxury stores to this very day, and from 1904 until 1920 at 91 rue de Rivoli for silversmithing, almost across the street from the prestigious Louvre Museum. Finally in 1920 both sons of Ernest Cardeilhac, Jacques and Pierre, took over the business until 1951, when the company merged with prestigious maker Christofle.

Some of Cardeilhac’s pieces are in the permanent collections of prestigious museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. 

Please feel free to ask us any questions, and please see our other listings. NO published price will beat ours. We hand polish all items before shipping them out, but if there is interest for a professional polishing and/or engraving removal, we can take care of that for an additional charge and with delayed shipping.