When the Cairo pattern, as seen here on this ice cream knife, was first introduced, it was called Curio, and only later was the name changed to Cairo. Evidently such flatware was so expensive that there was little demand for it, and consequently its production was very low.

Adapted from

Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 181 and 344.

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