Dominick & Haff Antique Sterling Silver Ice Tongs, New York City, c. 1870's

Exceptional in every respect, these wonderful ice tongs were made by the important firm of Dominick & Haff, most likely in the 1870's. The handle is beautifully pierced and engraved with foliate decoration. The functional ends are fantastically stamped, pierced and hand chased into a bold design of arrowroot (?) leaves which grip the ice.

Henry Blanchard Dominick & Leroy B. Haff started out partnered with the important New York silversmith William Gale. They continued making wonderful silver when the company became their own in 1872. According to D. Albert Soeffing in Silver in America: "The firm's reputation for quality design and excellent execution is well deserved....Almost without exception, their [flatware] designs are distinctive, the die work superior, and much of the output of substantial weight."(1)

These superb ice tongs measure 9.5 inches long, weigh 4.5 troy ounces and are in excellent condition. Marked with Dominick & Haff's trademark, "STERLING" and by the important Philadelphia retailer "J. E. CALDWELL".

Our Price: SOLD

Item code: K237

Endnote:

1. D. Albert Soeffing 'Biographies of Selected Silver Producers and Retailers' in Silver in America 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor, (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1994), p. 314.