Towle
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Towle Silversmiths is one of the oldest and most storied names in American silver manufacturing, with roots tracing back to a colonial silversmith shop in Newbury, Massachusetts. Towle Silversmiths is an American silver manufacturer founded in 1690 by William Moulton II, the first silversmith in Newbury, Mass. Moulton's family continued to operate the shop, and in 1857 apprentices Anthony Francis Towle and William P. Jones incorporated their work as Towle & Jones. In 1873 it became A.F. Towle & Son, and then in 1882, Anthony Francis Towle established the Towle Manufacturing Co. while still owning A.F. Towle & Son. The firm's lineage back through the Moulton family is significant in American decorative arts history, as the Moultons claim the longest-spanning silversmithing lineage in American history, producing generations of craftsmen whose early work is now held in major museum collections.
By the late nineteenth century the company had firmly established its identity as Towle Silversmiths, and in 1890, the company adopted the trademark of a large script "T" enclosing a lion, and Richard Dimes, an English silversmith who had immigrated to the U.S. in 1881, started Towle's hollowware line. Through the twentieth century the firm became renowned for its sterling flatware patterns, and Towle has created numerous sterling silver flatware patterns in the United States, including the "Candlelight" in 1934, the "Marie Louise" in 1939, which became the official sterling silver pattern for U.S. embassies worldwide, and "Old Master" in 1942, now considered by some to be the company's flagship pattern.
Towle pieces remain highly sought after by collectors for their combination of fine craftsmanship, historical pedigree, and the enduring popularity of its named patterns, many of which were produced in full formal flatware services intended for elegant table settings. The brand's long, continuous history and association with prestigious institutional use, including diplomatic settings, add to the appeal of well-preserved sets bearing its hallmark.
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