Amapola by Villeroy & Boch
Caprice-Moonlight Blue by Cambridge
American Victorian by Lunt Silver

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Beautifully named Amapola (Spanish for “poppy”) by Villeroy & Boch features exquisitely rendered, embossed poppy designs on the rim that spill onto the well of the plate.  Concentric, intertwined green stems on the rim complete the design. Amapola is a showcase pattern for Germany’s Villeroy & Boch, founded in 1748. Its longevity is not the only rare characteristic of the company in a modern corporate world. Despite the ravages of World War I and the Second World War, Villeroy & Boch remains a family owned company; the eighth generation of the founders actively creates and produces tableware designs. Villeroy & Boch is the world’s largest producer of ceramics. Its wares include egg cups, bath tubs, the tiles in New York City’s Holland Tunnel, and table settings for the Vatican in Rome.

Another beautifully named pattern is Cambridge Caprice-Moonlight Blue . This crystal shimmers like moonlight! Produced by Cambridge from 1937 to 1953, the light blue, swirled optic design features a knobbed and ribbed stem with round foot. The Cambridge Glass Company was founded in 1873, when a group of businessmen from the town of Cambridge, OH, decided to charter a glass-producing facility. A factory opened its doors in 1902. Most of Cambridge’s early designs were heavy, pressed-glass patterns. Arthur J. Bennett, an Englishman, was hired to manage the Cambridge factory. Bennett would design many of the company’s most successful patterns, and ultimately acquired the firm. Some of the firm’s most successful patterns and colors were introduced under Bennett’s leadership. Competition from overseas forced Cambridge to shut its doors in 1958.

Introduced in 1941, Lunt Silver American Victorian is scallop-shaped sterling with magnificent scroll and floral designs. It’s a lovely complement to the poppy design and swirled optic effect of Amapola and Caprice-Moonlight Blue. Lunt was founded as the A. F. Towle & Son Mfg. Co. in 1880 in Newburyport, MA. Towle and his son left the company and built a new factory in Newburyport under the name A.F. Towle & Son Company. After moving to Greenfield, MA, in 1890, the firm diversified. It went into automobile manufacturing and produced one of the first “horseless carriages” in America. Lack of financing caused the endeavor to fail, and George C. Lunt, who had been apprenticed to Towle, obtained financial assistance and established Rogers, Lunt & Bowlen Co., in 1902. Since 1935 the company has used the trade-name Lunt Silversmiths.

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