If you walked into a hundred American homes that own a complete sterling silver flatware service, you'd find Gorham Chantilly in maybe a quarter of them. It is, by a wide margin, the most-produced sterling silver flatware pattern in American history, and a pattern we see come across our table almost every week here in Chesapeake.
A quick history
Gorham introduced Chantilly in 1895, designed by William C. Codman. The pattern's defining feature is a soft, asymmetrical scroll along the upper handle, restrained, feminine, and just ornate enough to feel formal without crossing into the high-Victorian fussiness of patterns like Strasbourg or King Edward.
It was an instant commercial success and never went out of production. More than 130 years later, Gorham (now part of the Lifetime Brands family) still sells it. That continuity is part of why Chantilly is so common: brides registered for it in the 1920s, 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s.
How to identify Gorham Chantilly
Look at the back of the handle. Authentic Gorham Chantilly will be marked:
- GORHAM (sometimes with the lion-anchor-G trademark)
- STERLING
- The word CHANTILLY is typically not stamped on the piece, Gorham relied on the design itself to identify the pattern, the way most flatware makers did
- A date letter or model number may also appear
If you see "EPNS," "Silver Plate," or "1847 Rogers Bros." with a similar-looking pattern, it isn't Chantilly, it's a silver-plated lookalike. Several plate makers produced patterns inspired by Chantilly's success, and the difference in melt value is enormous.
What the pieces typically weigh
These are typical weights, yours may vary slightly:
- Teaspoon: ~1.0 troy ounce
- Place fork: ~2.0 troy ounces
- Place knife: handle-only weight, ~1.5 troy ounces (stainless blade is not silver)
- Tablespoon: ~2.5 troy ounces
- Sugar shell, butter spreader, salad fork: ~1.0-1.4 troy ounces each
A complete service for 12 with serving pieces is commonly 130-180 troy ounces total.
What Chantilly is worth today
Chantilly's value sits in two overlapping markets:
The replacement and pattern-completer market. Because so many families own partial sets, there is steady demand from people trying to add a missing serving piece or replace a lost teaspoon. This means certain individual pieces, particularly large serving items, hollow-handle serving pieces, and unusual specialty items, can carry premiums well above their melt value.
The melt market. Common pieces (teaspoons, dinner forks, salad forks) in standard quantities trade close to their sterling silver content value, especially for bulk lots. With silver in the low-to-mid $30s/oz, a typical complete service can be a meaningful number.
We always evaluate Chantilly both ways. If your set has individual pieces that are worth more to a collector than as melt, we tell you. If it doesn't, you still get a fair offer based on the silver content. See our full brand value guide for context across other Gorham patterns and major makers.
A few notes specific to Chantilly
- Monograms generally do not affect value at the melt level. They can affect collector premium slightly on rare specialty pieces, but for everyday flatware, monograms don't reduce what we pay.
- Place-size vs. dinner-size matters. "Place" pieces (mid-century standard) and "dinner" pieces (older, larger pre-WWII size) are both desirable; dinner-size pieces are slightly heavier and slightly less common.
- Hollow-handle pieces (knives, butter spreaders, some serving pieces) are weighed differently because the handle is hollow with cement and a stainless blade or insert. We account for this in our offer.
Have a Chantilly set?
Whether it's a few pieces inherited from a grandmother or a full service that hasn't seen a dinner table in decades, we'd be glad to look at it. Bring it to our office in Chesapeake, ship it to us with insurance, or just send photos and an estimated weight by email, we can give you a real number to consider before you make any decisions.
Malpass, Inc. — Licensed & Bonded Buyer in Chesapeake, VA
We pay top cash prices for sterling silver flatware, jewelry, hollowware, coins, and bars. Local appointments at 2650 Indian River Rd, Chesapeake. Nationwide insured shipping for out-of-area customers.
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