Ercuis

The name Ercuis belongs first to a village in the Oise, north of Paris. There, in 1867, a young parish priest named Father Adrien Céleste Pillon began a small business making religious silverware, decorated with enamel in relief and plated in silver and gold by electrolysis. More than a century and a half later, the house he started still carries the name of that village, and still works metal by hand.

From Altar Silver to the Dining Table

Father Pillon's venture was unusual from the start. He built housing for his workers and paid for it by publishing a newspaper. Within a few years the company had opened a shop in Paris and began moving away from church objects, turning its attention to the table.

The next turning point came in 1886, when the Orfèvrerie d'Ercuis signed an agreement with the manufacturer Georges Maës. With it came the centaur, the emblem of Maës's crystal works in Clichy, which became the Ercuis hallmark and remains the house symbol today. The Maës family would guide the company for three generations, enlarging production and showing at the great Paris World's Fairs of 1889 and 1900.

Liners, Grand Hotels and the Orient Express

In the years between the wars, Ercuis presented Art Deco designs at international exhibitions, and its silver went to sea. The restaurants of the French ocean liners Normandie and France set their tables with Ercuis cutlery, and the house came to be known for supplying hotels and fine restaurants that needed silver able to stand up to daily service. In 1977 Ercuis was commissioned to create silverware engraved "VSOE" for the revived Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

Ercuis joined the Comité Colbert, the association of French luxury houses, in 1978. In 1992 it took a stake in Raynaud, the Limoges porcelain maker founded in 1919, bringing silver and porcelain together under one roof. Since 2015 the house has been part of the Arcturus Group, and its Paris boutique sits on rue Boissy d'Anglas, near the Madeleine.

How the Silver Is Made

Ercuis holds the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label, a French state distinction for companies that preserve rare craft skills. Its manufacture keeps alive the trades of the goldsmith, polisher, chaser, metal turner and engraver.

A single fork passes through many hands. Sheets of metal are press-cut into blanks, rolled to stretch the metal, then struck between steel molds, with four molds needed for the two stages of the press. Excess metal is removed and the edges smoothed, and the tines of each fork are thinned and sharpened by hand, one at a time. Polishers then work every piece with progressively finer abrasives, buffers and volcanic powder, taking care to preserve the decoration.

Hollowware is built the same patient way. Parts are made separately, some stamped and some shaped by hand, while lid knobs and handles are cast in bronze; the silversmith then assembles them so the joins are solid and invisible. Silver-plated pieces are degreased, polished and immersed in an electrolysis bath, and Ercuis plating meets the 33-micron standard required for the French first-grade hallmark. Sterling pieces use 925 silver alloyed with copper and carry two French hallmarks, the maker's mark and the state's Minerva head.

The Signature Patterns

Many Ercuis patterns look back to the house's own history. Séquoia is a typical 1930s design that Ercuis reissued in the 1990s; it takes its name from its straight, faceted, angular handle and its strong geometric lines in the spirit of the Arts Décoratifs. Transat recalls the decades when Ercuis equipped the great liners, drawing on pieces made for the Normandie and on the work of the Art Deco designer Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, with fine, minimal engraved horizontal lines.

Du Barry, named for a favorite of Louis XV, is a tribute to eighteenth-century decoration and is offered in silver plate, silver plate with gold accents and silver plate in all gold. Equilibre, created by Thomas Bastide, comes in stainless steel and silver-plated stainless steel for a cleaner, modern table. Alongside them, patterns such as Lauriers, Sully, Brantôme, Citeaux, Bali and Escapade round out a range that moves easily between classic and contemporary settings. Browse the full selection of Ercuis flatware.

Setting and Caring for the Table

Beyond place settings, Ercuis makes the pieces that finish a table: serving pieces among the Ercuis serveware, smaller finishing touches among the Ercuis table accessories, and decorative objects in Ercuis home decor. A single pattern can carry from everyday breakfasts to formal dinners, and serving pieces mix comfortably with porcelain and crystal from other houses.

Ercuis's own first piece of care advice is simple: use the silver often. Store it dry, and dry pieces after washing before putting them away. When washing by hand, avoid bleach and anything made of rubber, which contains sulfur, and keep chlorine and acidic cleaners away from the finish.

Pieces not kept on display are best stored in anti-tarnish covers, and a soft dry cloth takes care of light tarnish. With regular use, silver develops a soft patina and, as the house puts it, becomes more beautiful with age.