Silverware isn’t vulnerable to fads. Clients generally want traditional, tried-and-true styles, and silversmithing is labor-intensive. By the time a master artisan could complete a pop culture-themed set, it would seem oh so very last week. This silver ice bowl, produced by the now-defunct American silver company Gorham in 1870, represents an exception. Gorham’s team drew inspiration from the 1867 purchase of the Alaska territory from Russia. The $7.2-million-dollar deal captivated American pop culture of the post-Civil War era, which admittedly moved far slower than the tweet- and meme-driven cacophony of today. Gorham realized that an Arctic theme would be perfect for an ice bowl, and off they went. “You were coming right out of the Civil War, which had utilitarian silver. Here, you have for the first time something sculptural and whimsical,” says Jill Waddell, senior specialist in silver at Christie’s.

The bowl isn’t part of a pattern, but Gorham made a few versions of it between 1868 and 1872, as well as a bucket-like form and matching ice-serving spoons and tongs. Christie’s auctioned this bowl solo, without spoons or tongs, but its original purchaser might not have ordered them. The charming vessel, festooned with fierce-looking polar bears and rows of icicles, was more practical than it looks. The metal bowl helped keep the ice cold in an age that predated refrigerators and portable coolers, and it naturally allowed for a dramatic trick, as Waddell explains: “When you fill it with ice, [you get] a wonderful frosted surface on the bowl that makes it look even more like an iceberg.”

This example sold for $45,000 against an estimate of $15,000 to $25,000. It performed well, but Christie’s sold another 1870 ice bowl in January 2017 for $52,500 against an identical estimate, which seems to be an auction record for an example of the bowl without accessories. (Bowls with a matching serving spoon or tongs have commanded more than $68,000.) Waddell attributes the high sums to “really good condition. The icicles were intact, you can see the fur and the claws on the feet of the bears, and there’s pale yellow gilding inside [the bowl]. A pale, lemony, buttery color is what you want to see.”

No one is immune to typos, auctioneers included. A Gustav Stickley copper charger in Skinner’s 20th Century Design sale in December fetched multiples of its published $400 to $600 estimate, but its intended estimate was $4,000 to $6,000. Evidently, there was a slip-up during data entry. Daniel Ayer, director pro tem for 20th century design at Skinner, shrugged it off gracefully. “No matter what estimate I put on it, the market put it where it should go,” he says, noting that similar Stickley chargers have sold for as much as $16,000.

Chargers are ornamental plates, laid out to greet guests arriving at a dinner party and whisked away from the table at the start of the meal. Sometimes, bowls and plates containing the first course are placed on chargers, but they typically don’t have direct contact with food and utensils. Still, others bypass the table entirely and function as decorations on sideboards and walls. This early 20th century copper Stickley charger was pretty enough for all of those roles, and pretty enough to escape the scrap metal drives of the first and second world wars. It might have been purchased singly but it was part of a pattern, if you count Stickley’s Arts and Crafts style as a pattern. The charger harmonizes with his copper lighting fixtures and furniture hardware, and Ayer says Stickley sideboards contained plate racks that would suit it.

In today’s market, it’s uncommon for a set of silver flatware to sell for double its high estimate. This lot, offered at Skinner in December with an estimate of $4,000 to $6,000, shows how high the bar has risen for flatware at auction. Georg Jensen, a celebrated and still-active silverware brand, produced the set, and while we don’t know how many exist, the pattern was popular, enjoying a 41-year run that ended in 1972. It has a streamlined, mid-century modern appearance rather than the ponderous, over-the-top flourishes of more traditional patterns. The eleven-piece set for ten is extensive, complete, and in great condition. It came with a beautiful custom-made storage chest (perhaps by Jensen, but it’s unmarked). Full sets of Acadia Blok flatware rarely appear at auction; before this, a smaller set that lacked a case sold in 2016 at Rago for $3,250.

Two parties, both present in the sale room, exchanged 29 bids in the battle for the flatware—a welcome example of an old-fashioned live bidding war in a time when the winner or the underbidder or both often compete via phone or Internet. The final price represents another surprise: the winner got a bargain. “Today, if you order Georg Jensen by the piece, it [a comparable set] would have been $50,000 if new,” says Daniel Ayer of Skinner. “If you’re looking at a new set of Georg Jensen for $50,000, or a classic set with case for $12,300, that’s a pretty good deal.”