Pair of Antique French Silver Plate Slotted Serving Pieces

A pair of antique silver plate slotted serving pieces, found over the years at French brocantes and enjoyed in Patricia and Walter Wells's Paris apartment. One is a classic oval spoon with a pierced bowl — fleur-de-lis and quatrefoil cutouts set into a gently domed head — while the other is a flat-headed server with an elaborately pierced and scrolled blade, its handle rounded and ridged in a style typical of French silversmithing. Both handles carry fine engraved detailing along their edges, and the silver has developed the warm, slightly muted tone that only comes from decades of honest use. Patricia used them for draining — lifting vegetables, retrieving poached fruit, scooping olives from brine — the kind of everyday kitchen task that calls for something both practical and pleasing to hold. On a kitchen shelf or laid across a bowl at the table, they remain entirely at home. Use them as Patricia did — for draining, lifting, serving — or simply keep them where they can be seen. Either way, they carry the particular satisfaction of objects that have been genuinely used and genuinely loved.