Cake Knife

The 1860s saw widespread popularity of silver flatware featuring portrait medallions on the handles, many depicting subjects wearing elaborate helmets. Drawing on antecedents such as ancient coins and cameos, many silver manufacturers produced variations on this theme.

Jacob Wood and Joseph Hughes had both worked earlier for the New York firm of William Gale, Sr. Their partnership was active by 1845 and grew to be one of New York’s largest silver manufacturers. The 1855 Industrial Census of the State of New York reported that the firm employed 105 individuals and produced goods worth $225,000 annually. Although Wood and Hughes had many important clients in the South, the firm survived the interruptions caused by the Civil War and went on to prosper as the postwar economy expanded.