How to set a Thanksgiving table with vintage silver and brass

You do not need your grandmother's full sterling service to set a Thanksgiving table that looks like it has a history. Three or four good silver-plated serving pieces, a pair of brass candlesticks and the plates you already own will do it.

We set tables with these pieces all the time, because serving silver is one of the things we look for hardest at every estate sale. The tray, the footed bowl, the salt cellar and the coffee pot are the pieces that make a table feel inherited. The rest of the table can be what you already have.

Start with one low piece in the middle

Every table needs one thing the eye goes to first. On a Thanksgiving table that is usually a footed bowl, a tray with something on it, or candlesticks with greenery between them.

Keep it low. Anything taller than about 14 inches in the middle of the table blocks the person across from you, and Thanksgiving is a long meal to spend talking around a centerpiece.

Our pick right now is a large hammered brass footed bowl with filigree handles. Fill it with small pumpkins, pears, or magnolia leaves from the yard, which is about the most Nashville centerpiece there is.

If you want silver in the middle instead, use an oval tray as the base. Set candles of different heights on it, or a row of small bud vases. The tray catches the drips and makes a handful of small things look like one arrangement.

Mix silver and brass, but repeat each one

People ask us if it is okay to put silver and brass on the same table. It is. The trick is to use each metal at least twice, so it looks like a decision and not an accident. Brass candlesticks at both ends with a silver tray in the middle looks planned. One brass candlestick in a sea of silver looks like it wandered in from the den.

Brass candlesticks do not have to match. Two of similar height but different shapes read as a pair at a dinner table, and a mixed pair looks collected over time rather than bought in a box.

Glass candlesticks are the easy way to fill gaps, because glass goes with both metals. A pair of Anchor Hocking Berwick holders, the beaded pattern that collectors call "Boopie", sits happily next to silver or brass.

Where the flatware goes

A formal setting has rules, and most of them exist so you never have to think while you eat. Forks go on the left of the plate. Knives go on the right with the blade facing the plate, and spoons go to the right of the knives. Everyone works from the outside in.

The bread plate sits at the upper left with a small butter knife across it. Glasses go at the upper right, starting with the water glass just above the knives. If you want a dessert fork, it goes above the plate with the handle pointing left.

That is all of it. Nobody at your table will check.

If your flatware does not match, mix it on purpose. Put the same pattern at every place for the forks, and let the spoons be the odd ones. A mixed set of old silver-plated flatware looks better on a long table than you would expect, and it gives every guest something to talk about.

The serving pieces that earn their spot

The pieces that come out every year are the useful ones.

• A round or oval tray, 12 to 16 inches. Rolls, the cheese board, or coffee after the meal. Our round Wm Rogers tray with a pierced rim has a rope-twist edge and an etched center. A beaded-rim tray with an engraved center is a quieter choice.
• A covered dish for the sides that need to stay warm. Our silver-plated copper covered dish, attributed to the New York silversmith Theodore B. Starr, holds the heat because it is copper underneath.
• Salt cellars with glass liners. Salt pits silver, so the liner is there for a reason. A pair of open salts with tiny spoons at each end of the table is one of the most charming old habits you can bring back.
• A coffee pot for the end of the night. Our engraved silver-plated coffee pot is covered in hand engraving that catches the candlelight.

Keep these foods off bare silver

Two things on a Thanksgiving table are hard on silver. Eggs contain sulfur, which turns silver dark fast, so put deviled eggs on a glass plate, or on a doily on top of the tray. Salt leaves small pits if it sits on silver overnight, so empty the salt cellars after dinner and wash them.

Cranberry sauce, citrus and vinegar dressings are fine for the length of a meal. Do not leave them on silver overnight.

After dinner

Wash silver plate by hand in warm water with a little mild dish soap, and dry it right away with a soft towel. Keep it out of the dishwasher. The heat and the detergent dull the finish, and contact with stainless steel in the rack can leave dark spots.

If candle wax ends up on a tray or a candlestick, do not scrape it with a knife. Put small pieces in the freezer for an hour and the wax pops off. For a big tray, warm water softens the wax enough to wipe it away.

Polish only when the tarnish bothers you, and go gently. Silver plate is a thin layer of silver over copper or brass, and each polish removes a little of it. A soft hand keeps the piece looking the way it should for another generation of Thanksgivings.

What to buy first

If you are starting from nothing, start with a tray. It is the most useful piece of all, and it makes everything you put on it look intentional. Next, a pair of candlesticks. After that, choose what your family actually eats: a gravy boat if your family is serious about gravy, a covered dish if you always end up with six sides.

Every piece in this post came from an estate, and each one is the only one we have. You will find them in our silver and metalware collection and our vintage brass, and we add new pieces every week through the holidays. If you set your table with something from us, tag us on Instagram. We want to see it.