Now on display in the Visitor Center is the exhibit “Shining Examples: Silver from the McFaddin-Ward House Collection.” In the tall case are featured coffee pots, pitchers, and tumblers. Specialized pieces for gracefully serving fish, toast, cheese, bone marrow and even the South American drink, yerba mate. Silver is both beautiful and practical once combined with just enough of another metal alloy to increase its durability. It made possible the creation of items like: a table crumber of intricate design, a ruler bedecked with flowers, and even a frame with Art Nouveau styled poppies. Also included, is a well-worn silver-plated spoon that is no longer symmetrical. We can only wonder if it was used by a cook to scrape the bottom of a cooking pan, or was used as everyday favorite, sparing the sterling pieces from ware. Also on display are two examples of 20th century place settings. Viewers can appreciate the ornate style of the repoussé “Baltimore Rose” pattern by the Heer-Schofield Co. and contrast it against the elegant colonial-revival simplicity of the “Mary Chilton” pattern by Towle Manufacturing Co.
