Volume XXXVIII, Number 5, 2006
silver 101? TM
4 LETTER FROM THE SILVER DESK
6 THE SILVER LINING
12 Ring Boxes Galore – The Mystery of Sterling Ring Boxes
Letters from Our Readers
by Courtney Dickson Hildebrand
8 SILVER MARKET MONITOR & EVENTS Auction Previews and Reviews
16 HISTORICAL SOUVENIR SPOONS Ferris Wheel by Jim VanNocker
18 Silver and Silversmiths in Antebellum Baltimore by Rowland L. Matteson
24 Old vs. New Gorham Versailles Pattern
BOOK REVIEWS
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Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table 1500-2005
Charlotte Kizer, Silversmith and Teacher
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by Will Chandler
by Alan Rosenberg
Duits Zilver na Bauhaus: de Verzameling Vic Janssens by Martin Chasin
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NEW & NOTED
The Evolution of the Silver Asparagus Server in Europe and America Part Two
Cover: Three types of nineteenth century American asparagus servers. Clockwise from right: asparagus fork, “claw” asparagus tongs, and “clam shell” asparagus tongs.
by Charles S. Curb, William P. Hood, Jr., John R. Olson, and Dale E. Bennett
Photo by Thomas R. DuBrock.
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
Letter from the Desk Dear Readers, As you read this, summer is fading. September introduces diverse seasonal elements across our readership world. October heralds autumn and, for many of us, the beginning of a retreat indoors. The final breath of summer for some is the sound of the baseball bat at a night game, for others it is the smell of grilling outdoors, or perhaps the salty smell of the beach and cry of gulls. Marked anyway you wish, summer is fading, another year rushing past. October brings a chill in the night air here in North Carolina but it also brings the baseball World Series, a timeless measure of summer’s end. Since childhood, the excited game announcer’s voice has been the voice of autumn. How fun it now is to be able to mix such divergent slices of life: end of summer baseball and silver awareness! Summer was travel with shopping the flea markets and road trips to antique shops. With fall’s arrival, several of us now turn to the internet or auctions to feed our collections. Wherever the cooler nights find you, here’s hoping this issue offers you something new, something exciting, and adds in some way to your silver knowledge and appreciation. Dean Six Editor-in-chief Silver Magazine
1996 World Series Championship Trophy – Atlanta Braves vs. New York Yankees – made by the Balfour Company. Photo courtesy of Milo Stewart – National Baseball Hall of Fame Library. Made of sterling silver with an ebony base, “The Commissioner’s Trophy” stands 2 1/2 feet tall and weighs 30 lbs. The baseball in the center is made of silver ox and weighs over 10 lbs. It symbolizes the world with 24k vermeil baseball stitches representing latitude and longitude lines. The 30 gold plated, hand furled flags represent teams from the American and National Leagues.
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
PUBLISHER Page/Frederiksen Publishing Company EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Dean Six ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jason Price COPY EDITOR/PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Amy Fisher DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING & SALES Tamera Gethers EDITOR EMERITUS Connie McNally CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Sandy Lynch, Carla Zarse, and from the Silver Salon Forums @ SMPub.com: Stuart Warter (swarter), Wm Erik Voss (wev), Charles C. Cage (blakstone), Scott Martin, Richard Kurtzman, Paul Lemieux, Dale Nelson (dale) and (Silver Lyon) FEATURED ARTICLE CONTRIBUTORS Bryan Abbott, Dale E. Bennett, Will Chandler, Martin Chasin, Charles S. Curb, Courtney Dickson Hildebrand, William P. Hood, Jr., Rowland L. Matteson, John R. Olson, Alan Rosenberg, and Jim VanNocker ART DIRECTOR Clark Design Post Office Box 10246, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404 Telephone: 866-841-0112 Toll-free, www.silvermag.com POSTMASTER: Send address changes to SILVER MAGAZINE, P.O. Box 10246, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404 Copyright Page/Frederiksen Publishing Company, 2006 HOW TO CONTACT US Silver Magazine, P.O. Box 10246, Greensboro, NC 27404 www.silvermag.com EDITORIAL To contribute an article, contact Silver Magazine at: 866-841-0112, editorial@silvermag.com SUBSCRIPTION For subscription inquiries: 866-841-0112 sales@silvermag.com ADVERTISING To find out about advertising: 866-841-0112 sales@silvermag.com RETAIL If you would like to carry Silver Magazine in your shop: 866-841-0112, sales@silvermag.com BULK REPRINTS If you would like to order article reprints: 866-841-0112, silver@silvermag.com Silver Magazine (ISSN 1074-2107) is published bimonthly by Page/Frederiksen Publishing Co., P.O. Box 10246, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. Periodicals postage is paid at Greensboro, North Carolina and additional mailing offices. Š 2006 Page/Frederiksen Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Silver Magazine is protected through trademark registration in the United States and in the foreign countries where Silver Magazine circulates. A one-year subscription is $40.00 for US; Canada rates $50.00 and other foreign subscriptions $55.00 per year (US funds). You may telephone Page/Frederiksen Publishing Co. at 866-841-0112 for customer service, subscriptions, or other inquiries. Editorial and other contributions are welcome, but such submissions may be published at Page/Frederiksen Publishing Co.’s sole discretion. Please write for Guidelines and include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Any submission to Silver Magazine, including without limitation any and all text, copy, drawings, photos, or other content or artwork, is an express acceptance of each and all of the terms and conditions contained in the Guidelines, including without limitation a representation and warranty that a submission in no way violates, plagiarizes, or infringes upon the rights of any third party, that it contains no libelous or otherwise unlawful material, that the author is at least 18 years old, and that it may be reasonably edited, published, reproduced, and distributed with no additional approval, license, other agreement, or compensation required. Opinions expressed in any article in or other submission to Silver Magazine reflect the views of the author(s) only, and do not express or signify agreement with the views of Page/Frederiksen Publishing Co. Page/Frederiksen Publishing Co. does not represent the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information published or distributed by any other person or entity.
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The
Lining
Letters from Our Readers
Tankard Mystery I would like to get information regarding this tankard. It has what I believe to be a “hallmark” on the bottom. It has a coin of Carl XV on the top. I believe the date is 1864. The engraving on the front is possibly marking the last bear killed in a place in Norway - “Til Bjorneskytter Tarje Olson Hougo. fra Central foreningen for Udbredelse of Legemsovelser og Vaabenbrug.” Coin is, “Carl XV Norgessver. G. V. Konge. Lanskal Med Lov Bygges” then the hallmark “P. LIE 13 1/4 1864” with three markings underneath. Inside the lid, the backside of coin states, “18 @St. 1MK.FS.” B. Folkestad St. Paul, Minnesota
Russian Candelabra Can you assist me in identifying the maker of my Russian candelabra? The piece is 24.5 inches tall and I presume it to be made in the first quarter of the 20th century. The four separate hallmarks are:
“M.H SPIRO” “M.P.” Lady’s face on left and “84” right of it Horse facing left with a wavy tail I would be grateful for any assistance provided. Thanks. S. Holmes Irvine, California
Passing Leonard Florence 1932-2006 Leonard “Lenny” Florence died on June 26, 2006, at the age of 74 after a long illness. Within the tabletop and housewares industry, Lenny was recognized for his innovation and philanthropy. Florence started out in 1969 with a small company called Leonard Silver and eventually bought and sold 56 companies over the course of his career. In 1986, Florence started Syratech Corp. (now owned by Lifetime Brands), which is made up of Towle, Wallace, International Silver, CJ Vander and others.
Silver Magazine reserves the right to edit letters for content and length. Please include your full name and address when writing to us (via the post or email). Photographs accompanying reader questions must be high-resolution digital images of at least 300 dpi. Include appropriate measurements, such as overall length, handle length, blade width and length, bowl diameter, etc. 6
SILVER MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
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Market Monitor Events
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REVIEWS Bonhams Silver & Objects of Vertu London, England July 11, 2006 Lot #33 - A Victorian Scottish silver and hardstone mounted pictoral vesta case by William Marshall, Edinburgh 1873. Estimate: $400-525, realized $637. Lot #351 - A large selection of caddy spoons. Various makers. Estimate: $685-1,850, realized $166. Lot #177 - Six late century Japanese mixed metal handle forks and six knives, early twentieth century. Estimate: $335-445, realized $682.
Christie’s Silver & Plate Sale 5002 London, England July 17, 2006 Lot #1761 - A Russian silver and enamel cigarette case. Maker’s mark “I.S.” in Cyrillic, Moscow. Estimate: $740-925, realized $844.
Heritage Auction Galleries Decorative Arts Auction Dallas, TX May 24-25, 2006 Lot #30032 - An American silver fish serving set, marked Gorham, Providence, Rhode Island. The set included a pierced fish slice and serving fork. Estimate: $1,500-$2,200, realized $2,151.
Lot 1566
Clars Auction Gallery Oakland, CA July 8-9, 2006 Lot #6622 - Georg Jensen Cypress pattern. 57 pieces sterling flatware. Realized $2,250.00. Lot #6623 - Gorham openwork sterling nut spoon with a musical arts motif design in bowl. Realized $650.00. Lot #6606 - Russian nineteenth century .84 silver icon with applied floral frame depicting the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, the verso bearing the presentation date of 1842, assayed St. Petersburg 1842. Realized $4,387.00
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Lot #30083 - A pair of American silver salad servers in the Sunset pattern by Allan Adler, Studio City, California and retailed by Gumps of San Francisco, California. Estimate: $500-$700, realized $591.98. Lot #30153 - A pair of Irish silver candlesticks by Daniel Egan, Dublin, Ireland, circa 1812. Estimate: $800-$1,200, realized $4,046.25.
John Moran Auctioneers Inc. Altedena, CA July 11, 2006
Lot #1556 - A George III silver mug, mark of William Solomon, London, 1767. Estimate: $1,110-1,480, realized $1,333. Lot #1566 - A Victorian silver covered sugar vase marked Messrs. Barnard, London, 1845. Pierced all over with scroll work, blue glass liner. Estimate: $650-740, realized $555.
Lot #30044 - Pair of American silver open salts with spoons by Tiffany & Co. From the Lap-Over-Edge pattern, with applied vine motif. Estimate: $3,500-$4,000, realized $4,302.
Lot 6606
Lot #1010 - 18 piece fish set of Old Newbury Crafters in the Cambridge pattern. Comprising of 8 forks, 8 knives, 2 serving pieces, total weight 38 oz. Estimate: $400-$600, realized $500.
SILVER MAGAZINE
Lot 889
Lot 30044
Lot #1222 - Gorham sterling 7 piece tea service in Maintenon pattern. Consisting of kettle & stand, tea pot, coffee pot, creamer, sugar bowl, waste bowl, and 29 inch tray. Estimate: $6,000-$9,000, realized $8,000. Lot #1223 - Wallace sterling flatware set in the Carthage pattern. 37 pcs. Estimate: $1,200-$1,800, realized $900.
New Orleans Auction Gallery Summer Estate Auction July 15-16, 2006 Lot #888 - American sterling kettle & stand by Tiffany & Co., circa 1865. Decorated with Greek key banding and engraved acanthus arabesques. Estimate: $5,000-$8000, realized $4,200. Lot #890 - American sterling water pitcher in the Navarre pattern by Watson. Estimate: $500-$800, realized $1,020. Lot #889 - Sterling six piece tea service in the Persian pattern by Tiffany & Co. The set included a coffee pot, tea pot, kettle & stand, sugar bowl, cream pitcher, and hot milk jug. Estimate: $18,000-$25,000, realized $20,400. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
SHOWS Atlantique City Antique Show Atlantic City, NJ October 14-15, 2006 www.atlantiquecity.com Brimfield Antique Shows Brimfield, MA September 5-10, 2006 www.brimfield.com The International Art & Design Fair The Seventh Regiment Armory New York, NY October 6-11, 2006 (212)642-8572 www.haughton.com The San Francisco Fall Antique Show Festival Pavilion San Francisco, CA October 26-28, 2006 (415)989-9019 www.sffas.org
ONLINE AUCTION RESULTS George III English Sterling Silver Cruet Set by Emick Roner, 1762. Sold July 16 for $3820. Victorian Silverplate Figural Napkin Ring #83 Pairpoint, baseball theme. Sold July 4 for $3106.56. Tiffany & Co. Sterling Silver Asparagus Serving Tray. Sold July 16 for $2616.99. 101 Piece Service for 12 in International’s Sterling Royal Danish. Sold July 15 for $2525.25. English Sterling Silver Billiards Trophy, Mappin & Webb, 1909. Sold July 13 for $920. Gorham Sterling Silver Versailles, Set of 4 Vintage Dinner Forks. Sold July 3 for $601. Sterling Silver Ring Box, by Roden. Sold July 9 for $338. Ferris Wheel Sterling Silver Souvenir Spoon. Sold July 12 for $12.99. 9
EVENTS Sterckshof Silver Museum Silver from Antwerp Oct. 1, 2006 through Jan. 7, 2007 Cornelissenlaan in Antwerp-Deurne, Belgium 32 (0)3 360 52 52 www.sterckshof.be An overview of one-and-a-half centuries of silver collecting in Antwerp is represented by a variety of objects brought together for the first time with the cooperation of the Antwerp museums. The exhibit has several developed themes: archaeological silver and its collectors, the connection between the city as a seaport trading center and its silver; and then examines some of the most noted of the city’s silversmiths. A catalog is available as No. 31 in Sterckshof Silver Museum’s Studies series. 300 selected objects are illustrated in color with a photographic compendium of silver marks. Summaries in English, French and German are included.
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Goldsmiths’ Hall Company Goldsmiths’ Fair 2006 October 2-8, 2006 Goldsmiths’ Hall - Foster Lane, London 020 7367 5913 www.thegoldsmiths.co.uk Goldsmiths’ Fair is all about stylish jewelry and striking silverware. With an overall focus on superlative design, craftsmanship and excellence, the Fair is a selling exhibition of contemporary designer jewelry and silverware showcasing 90 of Britain’s best and is a magnet for discerning collectors from both the UK and abroad. The Fair takes place in the grand Goldsmiths’ Hall, right near St Paul’s Cathedral.
Kurt Matzdorf receives 2006 SNAG Lifetime Achievement Award The Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) has awarded its Lifetime Achievement award to Kurt Matzdorf, Professor Emeritus of Gold and Silversmithing at the State University of New
York at New Paltz. He received this award to honor his lifetime achievement in the metal arts; as well as his devotion of teaching, artistic creations, and many years of mentorship to students. He is a survivor of Nazi Germany and much of his ceremonial work is on display at the Jewish Museum in Berlin.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art Irish Silver 26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Philadelphia, PA (215) 763-8100 www.philamuseum.org An ongoing exhibit that centers around the end of seventeenth century until Ireland merged with Great Britain. During this time period, Dublin was the second largest city in the British Empire and was the political, economic and social epicenter of Ireland. This exhibit is a wonderful representation of this era in history, as well as its effect on silver.
SILVER MAGAZINE
S
ILVER 101
By Stuart Warter (swarter) and other Silver Salon Forums @ SMPub.com contributors: Charles C. Cage (blakstone) and Wm Erik Voss (wev)
Pseudo-hallmarks
A pseudo-hallmark is a mark applied to silver objects in imitation of a genuine hallmark. True hallmarks were used in England, Scotland, Ireland, throughout Europe, and wherever assay offices were established. No true hallmarks were used in the United States, with the single exception of Baltimore, Maryland, where there was an official assay office operating for a short period early in the nineteenth century. Unlike true hallmarks, which are mandated by law and applied by a sanctioned authority, pseudo-hallmarks are applied by the maker or retailer and have no legal standing. These marks are prohib-
ited in places where true hallmarks are used. They can be found applied singularly or repeatedly, or as part of a series of marks, and are especially common in the United States, Canada, and other present and former colonies of the British Empire. There was little or no regulation and the meaning, if any, of many of these marks has not been determined. For some, however, the significance is established, or at least evident. One or more pseudo-hallmarks may be used in one or more of the following ways (limited examples are cited representing the many possible choices):
1. An indication of a maker’s personal guarantee of quality (Bailey & Co.*, George Sharp, Philadelphia, and several Canadian makers);
2. Trademark (James Seymour, New York*, Theophilus Bradbury , Connecticut);
3. An attempt to imitate genuine hallmarks (Schleissner & Sons, Hanau, Germany*; Chinese Export);
4. Symbolic of a geographical area (“American Bison” for Buffalo, New York, “Beaver” for Canada*, “Thistle” for Scotland, and “Asiatic Elephant” for India);
5. Symbolic of a geographical area from which an immigrant silversmith originated as in Canada (“Lion Passant” for England, “Lion Rampant” for Scotland*, “Harp” for Ireland, and “Fleur-de-Lis” for France);
6. Used principally in one particular area (“Federal Style Eagle,” Philadelphia; “American Eagle Head,” Baltimore; a series of three Englishlike marks, New York manufacturing silversmiths*);
7. Imitations of English marks (“Sovereign’s Head,” date letters, “Anchor,” “Lion’s Head”*);
8. Traditional symbols (“Sheaf of Wheat,”* “Classical Urn,” “Wreath,” “Shell”); and
9. Miscellaneous symbols (“Star,”* “Arm & Hammer,” “Hand,” “Indian Head,” and many others).
* indicates illustrated item
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Ring Boxes Galore The Mystery of Sterling Ring Boxes By Courtney Dickson Hildebrand
T
he definition of a box is simple, “n.container usually rectangular in shape with a lid.” Add two extra elements: the box is silver and it is finished on the inside to hold a ring - voilà, the sterling ring box. Some might call a ring box a ring case or presentation case, while others say it’s possible ladies used them as individual ring holders when traveling. Regardless of their name, silver boxes of all kinds have been around for hundreds of years. Vesta cases, snuff boxes, patch boxes, vinaigrettes and nutmeg graters are among the most familiar silver boxes. The silver ring box has been overlooked for decades and it’s time for them to shine (Figure 1). Based on observations from my personal collection and those of fellow collectors, sterling ring boxes date back to the 1890’s and continue through the 1970’s. Sterling ring boxes may date earlier but without samples or further documentation, the hunt continues. Among sterling ring box collectors, a box of any shape, maker, manufacturer, or condition is desirable. The maker’s marks, manufacturer’s marks, company marks and hallmarks are some of the most important aspects of ring boxes. These manufacturer and silversmith marks tell us about the origin. English manufacturers clearly marked their ring boxes with
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more information than American manufacturers. Like other English sterling items, English ring boxes are hallmarked with an exact year date, city and maker mark (Figure 2). American boxes are always marked “Sterling” and often reveal a company name on the bottom (Figure 3). Many American and Canadian silver manufacturers supplied sterling ring boxes to retailers and accommodated the store by marking the boxes with their name. The quest to find significant detailed records is relentless and there is a certain appreciation for well-marked boxes. My collection includes samples from the United States, Canada, England, and the dreaded place of the Unknown. American companies include: Howard & Company of New York (Figure 4), S. Cottle Company of New York (Figures 5 & 6), and R. Blackinton & Company of Massachusetts. Examples of Canadian companies are as follows: Henry Birks &
Fig. 1. Various sterling ring boxes featuring Kings Crown box, Howard & Co., Ellis Bros.
Fig. 2. English box marked “H.W. Plate Manufacturing Co., Birmingham, lion,” date mark 1929.
Sons Ltd. of Montreal, Ellis Brothers Limited of Toronto, O.B. Allan of Vancouver, and Roden Brothers of Toronto. A few English makers to note are: H. Matthews of Birmingham, Henry Perkins & Sons of London, S. Blanckensee & Sons, Limited of Birmingham, HW Plate Manufacturing Company of Birmingham, and Deakin & Francis of Birmingham. SILVER MAGAZINE
Round, square, rectangular and bell shaped sterling ring boxes are easily found; while heart, oval, and hexagonal shaped boxes, as well as boxes with a stepped base are much harder to locate (Figure 7). Birks’s heart box, produced from 1890-1910, is known as the “Holy Grail” of ring boxes among collectors (Figure 8). Boxes produced for a limited time or for a special occasion are of great interest. Birks of Canada gave boxes as premiums with the purchase of a diamond engagement set of a certain dollar value. The company also produced a limited edition Coronation box dated to the mid
Fig. 3. Howard & Co. box marks.
1950’s commemorating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and is one of Birks’s more intricately designed sterling ring boxes with a gadrooned edge and is considered bell shaped (Figure 9). Although both ring boxes are made of a common round shape, the Prince of Wales Plumes box and the Kings Crown box are both rare (Figures 10 & 11). The Plumes and Crown are applied to the lids of the boxes and it is this application on the lid that determines if a round box as either common or rare. Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor, was a regular customer of Birks in the 1920’s to 1930’s. The Prince issued a Royal Warrant to W.M. Birks of Montreal in 1935 that allowed him to use the Royal Coat of Arms on Birks stationery and store fronts. Permission was also given to use a portion of the Royal Coat of Arms on the lid of the Plumes ring box. The portion used is known as the Prince of Wales Badge of SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
Feathers and consists of three ostrich feathers argent enfiled by a coronet composed of fleur-de-lis and crosses-patées. These design details, accompanied with the German motto “Ich Dien” which means “I serve” and the words “By Appointment” below the plumes serve as a mark of recognition. Sterling ring boxes are usually found in two conditions: pristine and dearly loved. A box in pristine condition has most likely been tucked inside a drawer or safe deposit box for many years. The dearly loved box was perhaps on display, maybe a child played with it, or the owner may have traveled with it. Most sterling ring boxes are found in the dearly loved condition. Their exteriors exhibit blemishes such as dents, surface scratches, a nice patina, and wear due to age. The interior shows the passage of time more clearly with tears, missing insides, or faded and worn fabrics. Surprisingly, some are found to have both pristine interiors and exteriors. The customary finishing fabrics bring the boxes to life. Plush velvets in various gem colors such as black, crimson red, baby blue, moss green and butter yellow are indications of a time when only the best would do. The satin in the lid of a ring box is of a quality hard to replicate today. If lucky, the interior will possess an ink printed satin with the jeweler’s name or an embossed paper label. The O. B. Allan boxes in Figure 12 are good examples of these labels. To my
Fig. 4. Howard & Co. boxes with engraving dates of 1892 to 1909.
Fig. 5. Top of S. Cottle Co. Box engraved “Frances.”
Fig. 6. Bottom of S. Cottle Co. Box marked “Sterling,” company mark and “10.” Marked “L.L. Moore Jewelers, Seattle” by retailer.
Fig. 7. Birks’s stepped ring boxes. Dates 1920-30’s.
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knowledge, Birks is the only company that incorporated their company name and mark in the interior lid design by applying a plaque inside the gold washed lid (Figure 13). This practice continued until the late 1950’s and is a helpful way to tell the age of a ring box. Sterling ring boxes were and still are tiny exhibitionists. At one time they had something important to announce: a proposal, a special wish of celebration, or a declaration of many years of love and admiration. They were loved by their givers and
Fig. 11. Birks’s Kings Crown ring box. Dates late 1920’s. Fig. 13. Interior view showing the plaque inside the lid of Birks’s Coronation box.
Fig. 12. R. Blackinton ring box with an embossed paper label from a Honolulu jeweler.
Fig. 8. Birks’s Heart ring box with English marks and engine-turned lid. Marked “H.Matthews 1913.”
Fig. 9. Birks’s Coronation ring box with gadrooned edges. Dates to the 1950’s.
receivers. Timeless, often beautiful, hand engraved monograms on the box lids are indications of such love. A date might be included or extensive engine-turning would cover the entire lid (Figure 14). Surely their presence then was as great as it is now. These ring boxes grew old while tucked away, yet stayed well preserved for future generations. This glimpse happily introduces these boxes for their second debut. Sterling ring boxes may have countless stories to tell. To me, the hunt for sterling ring boxes and their history makes them immensely mysterious, beautiful and intriguing. I find myself wondering: “What is your story?” “Who once owned you?” “Was he nervous?” “Did she say, yes?”
Fig. 14. English box showing nice engine-turned lid with initials and date. Box date mark is 1929 but engraved date is 1934.
Fig. 10. Birks’s Prince of Wales ring box. Dates 1935ish.
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SILVER MAGAZINE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fig. 15
Besler, Carol. Birks: Celebrating 125 Years. Canada: Henry Birks & Sons, 2004.
Courtney Dickson Hildebrand comes from a southern family of avid collectors. Her maternal grandmother introduced her to the world of silver and she has collected silver for the past 20 years. Several magazines have mentioned her collection in the past couple of years. One ring box appeared in the movie The Notebook and a television show The 4400. Although her husband Terry and two children, Ivy and John Emmett, as well as working in the family business keep her very busy, she still finds time to create, play and hunt. Her first sterling ring box (Figure 9) was found at her family’s favorite Memphis flea market. www.ringboxesgalore.com
Culme, John. The Directory of Gold & Silversmiths: Jewellers & Allied Traders 1838-1980. Suffolk: Antique Collector’s Club Ltd., 1987. Book recommendation by Patrick Street via The Silver Salon Forums on www.SMPub.com Jones, Kenneth Crisp. The Silversmiths of Birmingham and Their Marks: 1750-1980. London: N.A.G. Press Ltd., 1981. Book recommendation by Patrick Street via The Silver Salon Forums on www.SMPub.com. Langdon, John E. Canadian Silversmiths 1700-1900. Toronto: Privately Printed, 1966. MacLeod, Kenneth O. The First Century: the Story of a Canadian Company. Montréal, 1979. Rainwater, Dorothy, and Judy Redfield. Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers, rev. 4th ed. Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1998. Rainwater, Dorothy, Martin Fuller and Colette Fuller. Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers, rev. 5th ed. Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2004. Webster’s 21st Century Dictionary of the English Language. Nashville: Thomas Wilson Publishers, 1992. “History of Birks Ring Boxes.” Leaflet from the Henry Birks & Sons Archive Department (obtained in 1999). Burke’s Peerage & Gentry. “British Royalty – HRH The Prince of Wales.” http://www.burkespeerage.net (accessed May, 2006). The Official Web Site of the British Monarchy. “Ceremony and Symbol – Honours of the Principality of Wales.” http://www.royal.gov.uk (accessed April, 2006).
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
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erris FRivals Paris
By Jim VanNocker
Fig. 1
C
Fig. 1
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aptured in the bowls of two souvenir spoons is a giant Ferris wheel almost a football field in diameter and having the capacity to carry as many passengers as prewar voyages of the Queen Mary. The foregoing describes neither the next great ride at a contemporary amusement park nor one of the amazing predictions of future technologies by Jules Verne. It is, in fact, what became the signature attraction for the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. While it is doubtful that the words, “If you build it, they will come!” were uttered by planners of the Columbian Exposition, it is clear that the giant Ferris wheel needed to become (and did) for that event what the Eiffel Tower was to the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889. After the Salem Witch spoons, no other factor advanced the popularity of souvenir
spoons as did this celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival on American soil. It is not surprising that the Ferris wheel would appear on several spoons among the scores produced to commemorate this event. To emphasize the number of different Columbian Exposition spoons, one can refer to World’s Fair Spoons, Volume I by Chris McGlothlin, a well known collector and author from Tennessee, who devotes all 170 pages to spoons commemorating or related to this event.1 George Washington Ferris, a mechanical engineer whose specialty was the construction of steel frameworks for bridges and tunnels in the Pittsburgh area, is credited with creating the centerpiece for the Chicago World’s Fair. Having observed traditional merry-go-rounds in operation, he conceived the idea of something similar, but larger, which would revolve in a plane perpendicular to the earth’s surface rather than parallel with it.2 When his proposal was made to fair planners, there was enough skepticism about this concept that committee members dismissed Ferris as a crackpot. However, when he returned with both the necessary financing and the endorsements of other engineers about safety concerns, his plan was approved. What was appropriately called the Ferris wheel became both the first and largest in a long line of such midway attractions. Standing 264 feet high with a diameter of 250 feet, it was five times larger than a typical Ferris wheel of today. Weighing of over 4,000 tons, two 1,000horsepower steam engines were provided to propel the 36 cars or gondolas, each capable of holding 60 passengers, bringing its total capacity to 2,160. Modeled on the principle of a bicycle wheel, the first Ferris wheel was so brilliantly engineered that it could accommodate five times the 1,200-ton load carried at capacity and SILVER MAGAZINE
Fig. 2
could easily withstand the high winds of Chicago.3 At its unveiling, Ferris and his wife, dressed in formal attire, toasted each revolution with champagne and cigars accompanied by an army of news reporters. Estimates of its cost ranged from $380,000 to $450,000, but at a nominal fifty cents per ride, the Ferris wheel turned a handsome profit as did the fair overall. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, the Ferris wheel did not survive for the enjoyment of posterity, but did have one additional life. In 1904, eleven years after the Columbian Exposition, America prepared to host another world’s fair, this one being the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. Because of its earlier success, the decision was made to disassemble the Ferris wheel at the
Chicago site and rebuild it some 300 miles away. Like Chicago, the world’s fair at St. Louis attracted over twenty million visitors and was deemed a major success.4 In 1906, the giant Ferris wheel was torn down and sold for scrap metal. George Ferris died in 1896 at the age of only thirty-eight, and did not live long enough to witness either the second life of his creation or its ultimate destruction. However, his idea lives on as evidenced by the continued popularity of Ferris wheels at carnivals, amusement parks and the midways of state and county fairs throughout America. The Chicago World’s Fair spoon (Figure 1, right) with the Ferris wheel pictured in its bowl was manufactured by Watson, Newell & Co-
mpany (double-bar dollar sign hallmark). It has a bust of Columbus on the top of the handle, and a globe underneath with the word “Columbus” embossed on it. Below that is a banner with the words, “World’s Columbian Exposition” wrapped about the handle. In its selectively gold-washed bowl is pictured the giant Ferris wheel along with the single most intriguing feature of this spoon, which is a dozen or so of Palmer Cox’s Brownie figures (popular at that time) falling from the wheel in one of their pesky pranks (Figure 2, right). The Ferris wheel is also featured in the bowl of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition spoon, which was produced in the Princess pattern by Watson, Newell & Company (Figure 1, left). Above the wheel it reads, “The Ferris Wheel” and “St. Louis, 1904” and underneath the wheel reads, “Height 286 Feet” and “Weight 4200 Tons” (Figure 2, left). It is unclear why this stated height is different than the 264 feet recorded for the Ferris wheel in Chicago. That discrepancy aside, this narrative is another example of how souvenir spoons, the metallic footnotes of history, provide a window to noteworthy events of the past.
Jim VanNocker is a retired Senior Engineering Manager from East Lansing, Michigan. He has been an avid souvenir spoon collector for 35 years and his interest has always been in the historical aspects of the topics depicted on souvenir spoons. He has contributed articles on souvenir spoons to the monthly publication Spooners Forum as well as the May/June 2006 issue of Silver Magazine.
ENDNOTES 1
Chris McGlothlin, World’s Fair Spoons, Volume I: The World’s Columbian Exposition. Tallahassee: Florida Rare Coins Galleries, 1985.
2
Genevieve Thiers, “Ferris Wheel History.” Page Wise (2002), eSSORTMENT, http://ak.essortment.com/historyferrisw_rkkj.htm (accessed April 4, 2006).
3
Lemelson-MIT Program. “George Ferris (1859-1896) – The Ferris Wheel.” Inventor of the Week Archive, (May, 1999). http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/ferris.html (accessed April 14, 2006).
4
Robert W. Rydell, John E. Findling, and Kimberly D. Pelle, Fair America: World’s Fairs in the United States. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2000, pp. 41, 57, and 58.
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17
S
by Rowland L. Matteson
Silver and Silversmiths in Antebellum Baltimore
The first English settlers in what is today the state of Maryland were mainly Catholics who were seeking a refuge from religious persecution in their homeland. In 1634, they arrived in the vicinity of St. Mary’s City where the Potomac River flows into Chesapeake Bay. This oc-
Fig. 1. Teaspoon, Standish Barry, Baltimore, 1784-1810. Fig. 1a. Marks, Teaspoon, Standish Barry.
curred during the reign of Charles I (1625-1649), who in 1632, granted a charter for lands on both sides of Chesapeake Bay to Cecil Calvert, Lord Baltimore, thus making Maryland the first of America’s proprietary colonies. Nature provided the tidewater region of Maryland with good natural harbors, especially around Chesapeake Bay with the many rivers and creeks which flowed into it. Nature also endowed Maryland with weather and soil conditions making it an excellent place to cultivate tobacco, the state’s most lucrative agricultural product for several centuries. The European demand for tobacco ensured that trade with the mother country was an important factor in the life of colonial Maryland. Ships loaded with cured tobacco en route to England returned to America with goods of all types. Many tobacco planters residing in the tidewater area of the state became extremely wealthy, and furnished their plantation homes and town houses with the best and most fashionable furnishings that England and the rest of Europe could provide. These included, naturally, items in silver. There was an extremely limited market for the products of native silversmiths, as the great majority of wealthy 18
consumers preferred to import silver items from England, or from nearby Philadelphia. Therefore, native silversmiths appeared years later in Maryland than in the New England states, New York, and Pennsylvania. In those states, plantations were little known and economic conditions entirely different. The first recorded silversmith in Maryland was César Ghiselin, who is thought to have worked in Annapolis from about 1716 to 1728. Baltimore, later becoming far and away the most important center for silver production in the state, seems not to have had a resident silversmith until around 1770. The city really came into its own as a center for silver production in the first three decades of the nineteenth century. Other Maryland towns which had resident silversmiths in the late Colonial and early Federal periods include Annapolis (Maryland’s capital city), Chestertown, Easton, Elkton, Frederick, and Hagerstown, among others. Native silversmiths in Maryland be-
Fig. 2. Teaspoon, Joseph Jackson, Baltimore, 18031815 & 1817-1831. Fig. 2a. Marks, Teaspoon, Joseph Jackson.
gan to play a significant role during and after the American Revolution when goods from England became unpatriotic. Therefore, most of the silver items made in Maryland are crafted after 1776. Since the early years of the nineteenth century, Baltimore has been the largest metropolitan center in the state and a thriving seat for trade and the manufacturing of goods of all types. Before the Civil War, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, one of America’s first, brought raw materials and commodities from the Midwest to the city and were then exported all over the world. A population of wealthy SILVER MAGAZINE
Fig. 3. Teaspoon, Simon Wedge, Sr., Baltimore, 1805(?). Fig. 3a. Marks, Teaspoon, Simon Wedge, Sr.
merchants and manufacturers meant that there was a ready market for luxury goods, such as silver. The city’s excellent railroad and waterway connections to the rest of the country ensured that Baltimore goods could be readily distributed throughout antebellum America. Baltimore has the distinction of being the only city in America where there was an assay office similar to those found in foreign cities: the British Isles, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Russia. This office existed from 1814 until 1853 and was extremely unpopular with the silversmiths of the city, who constantly complained about it. They resented the fact that they had to pay a fee of six cents per ounce for all silver items assayed. The fee was paid directly to the assayer and provided his salary instead of it being paid by the city or state government. As a result, silver items crafted in Baltimore were more expensive than those fashioned in nearby Philadelphia where there was no assay office or extra charge. Large presentation items in silver, fashioned for the Baltimore market during the period when the assay fee was levied, were usually ordered from Philadelphia’s silversmiths, as they were cheaper. Silver items made in Baltimore between 1814 until 1830 were marked with a shield, which corresponded to the Maryland coat of arms as taken from that of the Calvert [Lord Baltimore] family and a year date letter. In most years prior to 1830, a Liberty/Mercury head was applied by the assayer, and occasionally thereafter by a few makers. These marks ensured that the silver content of the item was at least 91.7% (11 ounces pure silver per Troy pound of 12 ounces), sterling silver being 92.5% (11 ounces two pennyweight pure silver per Troy pound of 12 ounces). In 1830 the law changed, date letters were no longer used and the SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
official use of the Maryland coat of arms was discontinued. In fact, the assayer was no longer required to assay each piece of silver crafted in the city. Instead, each silversmith was required to indicate the silver content of each item that he crafted. Most items have 10.15, 10-15, 10 oz 15, or some recognizable variant of these marks (10 ounces 15 pennyweight pure silver per Troy pound of 12 ounces), in addition to the maker’s mark. These numbers mean that the silver content of items so marked is 89.6% silver. This is in line with the silver content of Spanish silver coins, a principal source of raw silver used by American silversmiths at this time. It should be noted that silver items crafted in Baltimore almost never bear the indication “COIN” or “PURE COIN.” The American standard for coin silver established in 1792 was 89.2%, and rose to 90% in 1837. The Assay Act was never repealed, but simply was left out when the Baltimore City Code was revised in 1888. Names of the silversmiths who served as Baltimore’s assayers responsible for applying the appropriate control stamps
are: Thomas Warner (1814-1822), John S. Warner (1823), Leroy Atkinson (18241829), and Dennis Mc Henry, Jr. (also known as Francis Dell Henry, Sr.) (1830). After 1830, when the assayer no longer applied stamps, the office was held by Samuel Steele (1830-1843, second term 1845-1850), Joseph Warner (1844 and 1851-1852), and finally Thomas Hynes (1853). Those who served after 1830 merely served as referees if a disagreement arose between a purchaser and a silversmith as to the quality of an item in silver.
Fig. 4. Tablespoon, Samuel Kirk, Baltimore, 1824-1827. Fig. 4a. Marks, Tablespoon, Samuel Kirk.
Fig. 5. Tablespoons & Teaspoon, Samuel Kirk, Baltimore, 1830-1846. Fig. 5a. Marks, Teaspoon & Tablespoons, Samuel Kirk.
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Prominent Baltimore Silversmiths and Examples of Their Work Master silversmith Standish Barry was born in Baltimore in 1763, a son of Lavallin Barry, originally from Dublin, Ireland, who settled in Baltimore prior to the American Revolution. Standish was apprenticed to the Baltimore master silversmith David Evans, active in the city between 1773 and 1795. He advertised as early as 1784 as a watch and clock maker, and in 1785 went into partnership with Joseph Rice as watch and clock makers
Fig. 6. Tablespoon, S. Kirk & Son, Baltimore, 1846-1861.
as it was inherited from his great-greatgreat-grandmother, Mary Ann Billups Newcomb (1781-1845) of “Washington,” Prince George County, Virginia. The only mark present on the spoon is “BARRY” as the maker’s mark for Standish Barry (Figure 1a). Another early Baltimore master, Joseph L. Jackson, is first found as a silversmith in the city in 1803 at 13 South Street. He moved his business on several occasions over the years; his last known location was at 26 Charles Street. When the Assay Act became law in Baltimore in 1814, he was one of the signers of a letter in protest against the act, which was submitted by the silversmiths of the city to the mayor and city council. In December of 1815, Jackson moved from Baltimore to Richmond, Virginia to work as a gold and silversmith. He returned to Baltimore in 1817 as his name appears in the assay office records for that year. He remained active until 1831. Figure 2 shows a very plain teaspoon in the
Fiddle pattern, and is not engraved. The marks applied to the reverse of the handle are “J. Jackson” in script as a maker’s mark for Joseph L. Jackson, and a shield as a pseudo-hallmark (Figure 2a)(See the “Silver 101” article on pseudo-hallmarks on page 11). As no assay marks are applied, it can be assumed that this spoon was crafted before 1814, although one source states that on his return to Baltimore, Joseph lived outside of its city limits, so the terms of the Assay Act would not apply. The spoon is in poor condition and was also inherited by the author from his great-great-great-grandmother. As pure speculation, the author thinks that this spoon might have been purchased when Joseph was active in Richmond, as the city is only a few miles up the James River from Prince George County. Baltimore silversmith Simon Wedge, Sr. was active in the city between 1798 and 1823. Simon’s workshop was located at several addresses, moving finally in 1803 to 152 Baltimore Street where he remained in business at this location until his death in 1823. He is found listed in Baltimore’s city directories from 1800 un-
Fig. 6a. Marks, Tablespoon, S. Kirk & Son.
and engravers. Later on in the same year, the partnership advertised themselves as silversmiths, and they remained in business together until 1787 when they dissolved their partnership. Standish appears in Baltimore’s earliest city directory from 1796 as being in business at 92 Baltimore Street, and from 1800 to 1808 he lived and worked at 20 N. Gay Street. His advertisements indicated that with the passage of time he concentrated more on his craft as a silversmith. By 1810 he had changed careers and was now a merchant. In the early 1830’s he moved away from Baltimore to reside in Newport, New York where he died in 1844. The teaspoon shown in Figure 1 is crafted in the so-called Louis XVI style with deep cut engraving. It is in rather poor condition, and is kept by the author from sentiment 20
Fig. 7. Set of 4 Teaspoons, A. E. Warner, Baltimore, 1805-1870.
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til 1823 as a goldsmith, silversmith, and jeweler. Simon was also a signer of the 1814 protest against the Assay Act, as did a majority of the city’s active silversmiths. After his death, his workshop remained open under the leadership of his son, Simon Jr., who carried on the family business until 1869. The teaspoon illustrated in Figure 3 has a “coffin” handle and the initials “HLN” are engraved on its top. On the reverse of the handle we find “S.W” as a maker’s mark for Simon Wedge, Sr., and “1805,” presumably the year in which the teaspoon was crafted (Figure 3a). Samuel Kirk, Baltimore’s most famous silversmith, was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania in 1793. He was apprenticed to the Philadelphia master silversmith James Howell, active in that city from about 1802 until at least 1813. Samuel moved to Baltimore in 1815 and worked in partnership with John Smith until 1820, located at 30 Baltimore Street during these years. Samuel moved to 140 Baltimore Street in 1826 where he was active as an independent silversmith. By 1828, he soon became the most important and productive silversmith in the city crafting 93 percent of all the silver items submitted to the assay office in that year. In 1846 he took his son Henry Child Kirk into his workshop and they did business under the name of Samuel Kirk & Son from 172 Baltimore Street. Fifteen years later in 1861, two more sons, Charles D. Kirk and Edwin C. Kirk, joined the firm and its name changed to Samuel Kirk & Sons. In 1868, Edwin and Charles left the firm, and the name then reverted to its former name of Samuel Kirk & Son. Samuel Kirk died in 1872. Henry Child Kirk, Jr. joined the firm as a partner in 1890, and in 1896, the company name changed to Samuel Kirk & Son Co. Henry Sr. died in 1914. The company SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
name was changed again in 1924 to Samuel Kirk & Son, Inc., retaining this name until it was purchased by the Stieff Co. in 1979, when it became the Kirk Stieff Company. In the late 1980’s, Kirk Stieff was acquired by Lenox, which was acquired by Dept. 56 in 2005. Today it is the oldest silver manufacturing company in America. The Samuel Kirk item is a large tablespoon in the Kings pattern, and is engraved with an italic capital “H” on the top of its handle (Figure 4). On the handle’s reverse are found the marks “S. KIRK” as a maker’s mark, and as Baltimore assay marks, the Maryland state shield and a “C,” showing that it was assayed between 1824 and 1827 (Figure 4a). The second set of spoons from the workshop of Samuel Kirk was crafted before
The Troy System of Weights Used in Baltimore To Calculate the Amount of Silver Present In An Object 1 pound troy equals 12 ounces troy 1 ounce troy equals 20 pennyweights troy 1 pennyweight troy equals 24 grains troy 1 grain troy equaled the weight of 1 “averaged size grain of wheat taken from the middle of the ear.”
This system originated in England, and was made a legal system for use in that country, but not the only one, by law in 1496.
“S.C.” and is marked on the reverse of its handle with “S. KIRK & SON” as a maker’s Fig. 8a. Marks, Sauce Ladle, Canfield & mark, “10.15” as an indication Brother. as to its silver content (89.6%), and with a five pointed star (Figure 6a). Andrew Ellicott Warner, a member of a dynasty of silversmiths, was born in 1786. His father Cuthbert, a silversmith in Baltimore from 1780 until 1838, is thought to have trained A. E. in the silversmith’s craft. A. E. partnered with his brother, his sons had joined him in business. They Thomas, working as A. E. & Thomas were fashioned probably between 1830, Warner from 1805 until 1812. After the when the city assay for Baltimore ceased brothers dissolved their firm, A. E. continto apply assay marks, and 1846. These ued in business at the same address, 5 N. spoons, a teaspoon and two tablespoons, Gay Street. He was listed in Baltimore’s have downturned “fiddle” handles, each city directories as a silversmith until his engraved on their topside (Figure 5). One death in 1870. A. E. is reckoned as the secbears the inscription “EB to AB,” the second most productive Baltimore ond “IMB to DL Blackburn,” and finally, silversmith of his time, only being sur“EB to AP.” The spoons are marked on passed by Samuel Kirk. Warner is the back of their handles with “S. Kirk” as credited, along with Samuel Kirk, with a maker’s mark, and “10.15” as an indireintroducing the repoussé style of decoracation as to their silver content tion in American silver design. It should (89.6%)(Figure 5a). A third piece, from be noted that he did not sign the letter the years 1846 until 1861, is a tablespoon protesting against the provisions of the with a downturned “fiddle” handle (FigAssay Act. The teaspoons in Figure 7, a set ure 6). It is engraved on its topside with of four, are all in the Kings pattern. They Fig. 8. Sauce Ladle, Canfield & Brother, Baltimore, 1835-1850.
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are not engraved, and bear the marks, “A. E. W.” as a maker’s mark for Andrew Ellicott Warner, and “11” as an indication as to the silver content of the spoons (91.7%). Canfield & Brother, a wholesale jewelers firm, was founded circa 1835 by Ira B. and William B. Canfield. They are known to have been in business on the southeast corner of Baltimore and Charles Streets, and in 1845 at 227 W. Baltimore Street, which probably is the same address. In 1850, J. H. Meredith joined them in business, and the name of the firm was changed to Canfield Brothers & Co., continuing to operate under this name until 1881. The sauce ladle pictured in Figure 8 has an upturned “fiddle” handle and is engraved on the topside of the ladle with the initials “SAJ.” On the reverse of the ladle are the following marks: “CANFIELD & BRO.” as a maker’s mark, and “10. 0Z. 15.” as an indication of the silver content of the ladle (89.6%)(Figure 8a). Baltimore silver master Nathaniel Munroe was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1777, and died in Baltimore in 1861. It is thought that he was working in Massachusetts before 1815, and moved to Baltimore that same year. He remained active in the city for several years, with his workshop located at 222 Market Street from 1819 until 1840, and at 87 Hanover Street in 1845. During the years 1825 until 1829 he was in partnership with D. Holman, with their workshop being at the Market Street address. There is some evidence to indicate that he may have been active in Selma, Alabama at some point between 1842 and 1850. The teaspoon in Figure 9 has a “fiddle” handle, and is marked on its reverse with “N. MUNROE” as a maker’s mark for Nathaniel Munroe, a star as a pseudo-hallmark, and “BALTI22
period and the proportions are quite similar to those found in coin silver spoons fashioned in Cincinnati. It bears the mark “10 15” as an indication of its silver content, 89.6%. The spoon is also marked with “STEWART” as a maker’s mark for John Stewart (Figure 11a). The only decoration on the spoon is an engraved “W” Fig. 9. Teaspoon, Nathaniel Munroe, on the top of the handle. Baltimore, 1815-1861. Littleton Holland, one of BalFig. 9a. Marks, Teaspoon, Nathaniel Munroe. timore’s most important antebellum silversmiths, was born in 1770. He began his career in the city working from about 1800 until 1814 with the clock and watchmaker Peter Little. Holland is listed in Baltimore city directories from 1802 until 1843 as a goldsmith, silversmith, and jeweler. His workshops from 1802 until 1831 were located on Baltimore Street and from 1831 on St. Fig. 10. Teaspoon, Jonathan Davenport, Baltimore, 1789-1793, 1796. Paul Street. In 1814, he applied for the office of Baltimore city assayer, Fig. 10a. Marks, Teaspoon, Jonathan Davenport. offering to limit himself otherwise to making jewelry. He applied MORE” to indicate where the teaspoon again for the office in 1816, but was not chowas crafted (Figure 9a). Engraved on the sen. He remained active in the city until his top of the handle we find “JSB.” death in 1847. Holland was one of the most Jonathan Davenport, another master productive of Baltimore’s antebellum silversilversmith, was active during his career smiths and a considerable portion of his in both Baltimore and Philadelphia. He work still exists today. The large teaspoon in was located on Market Street, between Figure 12 is very simple, and is engraved on Calvert and South Streets during the its handle with the letters “YMG.” A numyears 1795 to 1796, and in 1796 he reportber of marks are found on the reverse handle, edly moved to 102 Baltimore Street. From among which are “HOLLAND” as a maker’s the years 1789 to 1793, he was also active mark for Littleton Holland and the Maryland in the city. The tablespoon in Figure 10 state flag as a Baltimore assay office mark. has a long downturned “fiddle” handle Also found are “G” as a year date letter for and is engraved on its top with an italic 1821 and a female head (Liberty) as a furcapital “E.” On the back of the handle is ther assay mark (Figure 12a). found “I.D” in block capitals as a maker’s mark for Jonathan Davenport (Figure ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 10a). Master silversmith John Stewart is I wish to thank my friend and associate Ib known to have first worked in New York Persson for encouragement and technical City about 1790 and moved to Baltimore assistance, and my friend Clements Ripley around 1810. The Fiddle pattern tablefor many interesting conversations on spoon in Figure 11 is from his Baltimore American coin silver. The author wishes to SILVER MAGAZINE
also remember his late friend, Anna Wells Rutledge of Charleston, SC, who first stirred his interest in the decorative arts of the South and encouraged him in his work in this field. She spent part of her career working in Baltimore, and was always interested in the city and its decorative arts and artists.
Fig. 11. Tablespoon, John Stewart, Baltimore, circa 1810. Fig. 11a. Marks, Tablespoon, John Stewart.
Rowland L. Matteson was born in Richmond, VA in 1938 and grew up in Oxford, NC. He is a graduate from Wake Forest University and the University of South Carolina with graduate work at the University of South Carolina and at Uppsala University in Sweden. He served on the faculty of Methodist College in Fayetteville, NC and Olive-Harvey College in Chicago. Upon retiring in 1994, he moved to Copenhagen, Denmark. He has been interested in antebellum American silver for over 40 years, but has concentrated for the most part on old Scandinavian silver, on which he has written numerous articles for Silver Magazine. A current interest is Russian silver and silver from lands around the Baltic which were formerly under Russian rule.
Fig. 12. Large Teaspoon, Littleton Holland, Baltimore, 1821. Fig. 12a. Marks, Large Teaspoon, Littleton Holland.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Arfwedson, C. D. Förenta Staterna och Canada, Åren 1832, 1833, och 1834. Stockholm: L. J. Hjerta, 1835. Belden, Louise Conway. Marks of American Silversmith in the Ineson-Bisell Collection. Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, 1980. Cutten, George Barton. Silversmiths of North Carolina 1696-1860. Second revised edition, revised by Mary Reynolds Peacock. Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, 1984. Cutten, George Barton. Silversmiths of Virginia (Together with Watchmakers and Jewelers) from 1694 to 1850. Richmond: The Dietz Press Inc., 1952.
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Duggan, Patrick M. “Marks of Baltimore Silver 1814-1860: An Exploration.” In Silver in Maryland, by the Maryland Historical Society, 1983. Ensko, Stephen Guernsey Cook. American Silversmiths and Their Marks, rev. 4th ed., compiled by Dorothea Ensko Wyle. Boston: David R. Godine, Publisher, Inc., 1989. Gausted, Edwin S., and Schmidt, Leigh E. The Religious History of America. Revised Edition. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 2002. Goldsborough, Jennifer Faulds. Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Maryland Silver in the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1975. Klinckowström, Friherre Axel. Bref om de Förenta Staterne, författade under en Resa till
America, Åren 1818, 1819, och 1820. Stockholm: Ecksteinska Tryckeriet, 1824. Quimby, Ian M. G., with Dianne Johnson. American Silver at Winterthur. Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, 1995. Rainwater, Dorothy T., and Judy Redfield. Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers, rev. 4th ed. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1998. Zupko, Ronald Edward. British Weights & Measures, a History from Antiquity to the Seventeenth Century. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1977. Library of Maryland History, “Samuel Kirk & Son, Inc. Papers, 1834-1979,” Maryland Historical Society Library, www.mdhs.org/ library/Mss/ms002720.html (accessed July 2006).
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Some patterns have a timeless appeal. Continued interest and inquiry have resulted in a number of older patterns being reintroduced—years, even decades later. This Silver Magazine feature is one in a series to aid in distinguishing the “old” or originally produced from their later counterparts.
Gorham Versailles Gorham’s Versailles pattern was first introduced in 1888. The pattern demonstrates intricate design detail with at least twentyfive different handle motifs designed by Antoine Heller. Heller, the brilliant French silversmith and die-cutter from France, joined Gorham in late 1881. The pattern Side by Side Comparison embellishes the French history of Louis XIV Luncheon Forks and Cold Meat Forks along with the beauty and royalty of the town Versailles that is located ten miles outNEW side of Paris. When Versailles was first introduced, it was a full line pattern with intricately shell bowl designs for many of the serving pieces. In later production, most of these esoteric OLD pieces were no longer produced. Over time, some of the handle motifs were changed on pieces where the dies were no longer usable. Circa 1910, the shell shape motif on implement ends began to change to a more plain shape and progressed even more drastically NEW to a different style in the late 70’s and early 80’s on such pieces as cold meat forks, berry spoons, etc. Original knives had silverplate blades and later changed to stainless steel OLD blades. Newer production features an array of hollow handled serving utensils which have stainless steel implements. Exquisite details, coupled with variations of manufacturer’s marks, are primary ways to distinguish new Versailles from the older version. Estate - Original 1888 to 1909 Current production and Versailles was never patented, however and 1910 to ? - OLD Made to Order - NEW many pieces were copyrighted in 1888. • The deep patina give the pieces • No or very little patina adds to Gorham price lists indicate that Versailles more distinction and clearly the lack of design detail became a “Made to Order” pattern circa defined detail • The edges can be sharp and the 1980. The newer Versailles introduced a new • The edges are smooth and soft pattern design appears flat generation to this classic pattern. due to use and wear • Excessive oxidation gives a satin • French Grey finish
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tinfoil finish
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Details of the front side of the handle
Top: Estate - Original Production - OLD • The tip flips forward providing a concave effect with more depth and clarity • Smooth patina accents every feature • Exquisite design detail
Bottom: Current production and Made to Order NEW • The handle tip is flatter with less of a concave effect and a more dull appearance • The excess oxidation covers the features rather than define them • The design lacks clarity and the handles tend to be thicker
Mark Detail
Left: Estate - Original Production - OLD • The Sterling mark is stamped in the back of the bowls of all pieces along with the Lion/Anchor/G • Will have Copyright or Copyrighted 88 stamped in the back of the bowl • Can contain a single letter weight mark usually in a diamond • Most of the back stamps can be read facing the handle and the bowl end facing up (see arrows)
Right: Current production and Made to Order NEW • The Sterling mark can be stamped on the back of the bowls of all pieces along with the Lion/Anchor/G • Will not have a Copyright or Copyrighted stamp or a weight mark • Most of the back stamps can be read facing the end of the bowl instead of the handle (see arrows)
Details of the backside of the handle
Top: Estate - Original Production - OLD • Tip of handle is very detailed and curves down • Smooth cartouche area for monogramming with a nice patina • Outline of handle is very crisp and intricately detailed in a high relief
Bottom: Current production and Made to Order - NEW • Tip of handle is flatter with the details having a worn or smudged appearance • Smooth, flat cartouche area for monogramming in a satin tinfoil finish • Outline of handle lacks crispness and is less defined
BIBLIOGRAPHY Carpenter, Jr., Charles H. Gorham Silver 1831-1981. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1982. Hood, Jr., William P., and John R. Olson. “The Versailles Flatware by Gorham,” Silver Magazine, 33, (March/April 2001), 22-34. Gorham Archives 1880-1909. CD-ROM series, John Hay Library, Brown University, 2002.
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CHARLOTTE KIZER, SILVERSMITH AND TEACHER by Alan Rosenberg
Fig. 6
In
the twentieth century, a small number of silversmiths in the United States made a living solely by selling their creations. A much larger number sustained themselves by a combination of retail sales, custom commissions (especially for houses of worship) and, most of all, teaching the craft to others. Charlotte Kizer’s long career as a silversmith and teacher exemplified the artisan-teacher model. Although she produced only one-of-a-kind pieces, she was committed to the idea of art for all and the dissemination of silversmithing as a craft in which the properly trained layperson could excel. Charlotte Kizer was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1901. She grew up in a prominent family and her father, Joseph Leslie Kizer, was the state’s Insurance Commissioner and had extensive real estate holdings.1 Her artistic inclinations may have been encouraged by her mother, Belle Wilson Kizer, who was a mem-
26
ber of the Lincoln Artists’ Guild.2 Kizer earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Nebraska in 1923 and a Master of Arts degree in 1928 from Columbia University, in New York. After graduate school, Kizer taught art in Nebraska public schools until 1936. During that period, Kizer filled out a “Nebraska Artists Information” questionnaire in which she stated that her preferred media encompassed “design and crafts including china, pottery, jewelry, modeling, batik, linolium [sic] printed textiles, watercolor.”3 She displayed paintings and crafts at exhibitions in the Midwest and in 1936, represented Nebraska with a semiabstract cityscape painting titled “On Commercial” (Figure 1) in the “First National Exhibition of American Art” at Rockefeller Center in New York City.4 That same year, she married Arthur Bitz and relocated to Scarsdale, New York; where, in 1939, she was appointed
Director of the Westchester Workshop, a continuing-education arts and crafts instruction and exhibition center. Directing the workshop was a prodigious responsibility with typical seasonal enrollments of 1,100-1,500 students.5 Nevertheless, Kizer found time to pursue her own creative work, exhibiting frequently, and was explicit that the other instructors should also be accomplished professionals in their respective fields. In a 1947 article she wrote about the Workshop, Kizer stated that “given the opportunity, Mr. and Mrs. Average Citizen can paint or make pottery or jewelry ... the housewife, the doctor, the lawyer, the professional woman all come together once or twice a week to study under the expert guidance of an instructor who is professional in his field.”6 In 1963, Kizer’s 24th year as Director of the Workshop, a newspaper article noted that the “faculty is an impressive roster of distinguished SILVER MAGAZINE
Westchester artists, each outstanding in his own field, and trained at top colleges and universities, art institutes and academies throughout the United States and Europe.”7 Kizer also pursued her own professional development. From 1946 to 1949, she studied silversmithing with Adda Husted Andersen, a well-known silversmith with her own retail shop in Manhattan, and in 1949, with James Hamlin. This study firmly established Kizer as a silversmith and her works in silver from subsequent years attest to her accomplishment. Fig. 1
ment to modern design. A large bowl, created around 1949, shows evidence of raising in the subtly visible hammer marks which contrast with the overall smooth form and modern, machine-like design elements of the base (Figure 2). An oval pitcher, circa 1954, shows the type of irregular form that can be achieved through raising (Figure 3). Kizer also created rectangular shapes through fabrication, joining sheets of silver by soldering, resulting in threedimensional forms. The flat planes of fabricated forms, such as boxes and makeup compacts, were an ideal canvas for modernistic decorative elements. Kizer’s modern design sensibility can be seen in the cigarette box in Figure 4 with an abstract motif applied to the lid with thin strips of silver, like those used to separate the colors in cloisonné enamel. She applied similar decoration to a bracelet
Fig. 3 Figure 1. “On Commercial,” oil on canvas, circa 1935. Figure 2. Sterling bowl, 6 3/8” x 8”, circa 1949. Photo by Gilman. Figure 3. Sterling pitcher, circa 1954. Photo by Gilman. Figure 6. Charlotte Kizer, 1901-1989.
Fig. 2
Kizer created her hollowware by the traditional raising method by which a small piece of silver is expanded into a much larger concave shape by repeated hammering over a convex form. By the twentieth century, raising had been widely supplanted by spinning (whereby a sheet of silver turning on a lathe is formed over a chuck) which was infinitely faster. Although spinning itself is a craft demanding great skill, it results in hollowware of a somewhat different character than raising and is not suitable for achieving asymmetrical forms. Kizer’s commitment to traditional methods was matched by her commitSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
(Figure 5) and to a cigarette case and compact she is seen working on around 1950 (Figure 6). A set of iced-tea sippers’ interrelated geometric shapes have minimal ornament and maximum function as does a cigarette box with which they were photographed (Figure 7). Kizer’s loyalty to modernism was expressed in a 1959 newspaper article, in which she is quoted, about a program of art in hospitals. As a leader in the art and design community, she participated in the selection of art for display in Westchester hospitals and had chosen abstract paintings. Responding to resistance to her selections, Kizer stated that “people get tired of the same old thing all
the time—they get tired of baby food and want something that produces greater energy ... we can look at modern painting and perhaps not like it, but it is at least stimulating and makes good conversation.”8 Kizer’s attitude was not shared by Mrs. William Carlson, of the Hudson Valley Art Association, who declared that abstract art was “too controversial and is open to question” adding “we don’t want pictures that would be disturbing to patients—we are conducting a program for therapy, not education.”9 Kizer also advocated for modern design as a frequent juror at craft shows and she continued to teach and exhibit throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s. In 1960, she was awarded first prize in silver at the 29th Annual Exhibition of the 27
Figure 4. Sterling box, circa 1950. Photo by Gilman. Figure 5. Silver vase, 4 inches tall and silver bracelet, circa 1950. Photo by Gilman.
Figure 7. Silver cigarette box and iced-tea sippers, circa 1940. Photo by Murray Studio.
Westchester Arts and Crafts Guild and in 1968 her cone-based candlesticks of sterling silver and gold were awarded the Certificate of Merit at the Tenth Annual Exhibition of the Artist-Craftsmen of New York. Around 1975, Kizer retired to Laguna Beach, California, a community she chose for its wellknown art colony. She died in 1989. Charlotte Kizer saw her roles as craftsperson and teacher as intertwined and she believed that a student’s accomplishment reflected on the instructor as well. In 1947, she wrote that a student’s achievement produces “results that are satisfying not only to themselves but please the instructors whose professional standing delights in seeing a finished project well done.”10 In 1963, she stated that “the satisfaction that comes of creating something beautiful or useful with your own hands is a major reason for the upsurge in interest in arts and crafts nationally.”11 Both her works in silver and her teaching are important contributions to that upsurge.
Alan Rosenberg is a design historian, consultant and dealer
NOTES 1. Who’s Who in Nebraska (Lincoln, NE: Nebraska Press Association, 1940), s.v. “Kizer, Joseph Leslie.”
tients,” New York Times, March 22, 1959, sec. 84.
Craft Horizons, “Westchester Annual,” January/February 1960, 44.
9. Ibid.
The Daily News (Mamaroneck), “Her Christmas Decorations Describe Mind Over Matter,” December 10, 1960, sec. 4.
2. Ibid. 10. Kizer, “Layman Can,” 9. 3. “Nebraska Artist Information” questionnaire in the library of the Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE. 4. Edward Alden Jewell, “Assaying American Art,” New York Times, May 24, 1936, sec. X7.
11. “Westchester Today,” The Standard Star, 30.
The Kentucky Post, “Names in the News,” June 24, 1955.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
New York Times, “Craft Exhibition Will Open Today,” March 30, 1954, sec. 22.
Folsom, Merrill. “Painters Dispute Art for Patients,” New York Times, March 22, 1959, sec. 84.
New York Times, “Craft Show Ready at America House,” June 11, 1953, sec. 35.
6. Ibid.
Jewell, Edward Alden. “Assaying American Art.” New York Times, May 24, 1936, sec. X7.
New York Times, “Open House Set This Week at Westchester Workshop,” December 2, 1962, sec. 156.
7. “Westchester Today! Workshop: 1,150 in County Center Beehive,” The Standard Star, December 5, 1963, sec. 30.
Kizer, Charlotte E. “The Layman Can,” Design, February 1947, 8.
8. Merrill Folsom, “Painters Dispute Art for Pa-
Craft Horizons, “Artist-Craftsmen of New York.” May/June 1968, 64.
5. Charlotte E. Kizer, “The Layman Can,” Design, February 1947, 8.
28
The Standard Star, “Westchester Today! Workshop: 1,150 in County Center Beehive,” December 5, 1963, sec. 30.
SILVER MAGAZINE
The Evolution of the Silver Asparagus O Server in Europe and America
Part II: American Servers
By Charles S. Curb, William P. Hood, Jr., John R. Olson, and Dale E. Bennett
30
nly foods consumed by the fashionable and well-to-do achieve their own designated silver serving implements; asparagus was among the earliest to be so honored. In Part One of this series, we cited an example of English asparagus tongs dating from 1765.1 Swedish naturalist Peter Holm found asparagus growing wild and being cultivated in New Jersey in 1740.2 Asparagus recipes appear in a late eighteenth-century American cookbook. However, asparagus was not grown in this country on a large scale until the mid-nineteenth century. This may explain why an American silver asparagus serving implement that can be reliably dated before 1840 has not been found, and why examples prior to 1860 are rare. Between the Civil War and the end of the century, there was a veritable explosion of such implements. The range of forms and sizes is greater in America than in any other country where such servers were produced. In the evolution of American flatware piece types typically follow an early period of experimentation with two or more forms. This is followed by an era of general agreement among makers as to what sort of implement is best and the difference then becomes a matter of pattern and decoration. American asparagus servers did not follow this sequence. The earliest American asparagus servers were either tongs in the English tradition or large forks with long tines and a sizable bowl area between the handle and tines. The forks, over time, became wider at the serving end and the tines blunter and more likely to be laterally connected. In the late nineteenth century, forks were joined by American tongs, considerably shorter and much wider than the earlier English version. American-made versions of various European-style asparagus servers were also made: few styles of asparagus servers made in Europe were not copied at some time. By the early twentieth century, a consensus of form had still not been reached. The same maker commonly offered two or three types of asparagus servers within the same flatware pattern. Cooked asparagus spears are slippery and fragile and no forms of serving implement were found to be entirely satisfactory. This and the succeeding article will provide an overview of the development and range of American asparagus servers. The variation in size, form and decoration among American asparagus servers is extraordinary. It has been a challenge to narrow the selection of pieces illustrated and discussed to a manageable number. Collectively, American silver asparagus servers of the Victorian era were among the largest and most extensively decorated of all serving pieces. They tended to be aesthetically impressive SILVER MAGAZINE
Fig. 1. Asparagus tongs in Gorham’s Grecian pattern, ca. 1861-1867, coin silver, stamped on the inside of the bottom arm with “PATENT 1861 / GEO. C. SHREVE & CO / STERLING [sic] / (lion) (anchor) G.” Length 11 1/2 in., weight 5.5 oz. troy. Collection of Phyllis Tucker. Photo by Thomas R. DuBrock.
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Fig. 2. Two probable asparagus forks. Bottom: unknown pattern by Palmer & Bachelder, ca. 1850s, coin silver, stamped on handle reverse with “PALMER & BACHELDER”; inscribed with “Mr. & Mrs. T. C. Stearns.” Length 8 3/4 in., weight 3.0 oz. troy. Top: Beaded pattern by an unknown manufacturer, ca. 1850s, sterling silver, stamped on reverse with “TIFFANY & Co. / STERLING” and inscribed “M.” Length 8 3/4 in., weight 3.0 oz. troy. Unless otherwise credited, all objects are in the collections of the authors, and photos are by Alamo Photolabs, San Antonio, TX.
Fig. 2
and were among the most expensive items in a flatware service. In the absence of manufacturers’ catalogues and other documentary evidence for early Victorian pieces, to point to a single server and definitively identify it as the earliest known American asparagus server is inadvisable. Certain early pieces may well be asparagus servers but cannot be authoritatively designated as such. In one or two instances, we are not in agreement as to the intended function of a given piece. The earliest English asparagus tongs were the scissors type but were quickly followed by the bow type, no scissor asparagus tongs made in this country are known. With the exception of a unique third type made by Tiffany & Co., our illustrated examples of American asparagus tongs will be of the bow type. Costing books in the archives3 of the Gorham Manufacturing Company, formerly of Providence, Rhode Island (founded 1831), do not include entries for pieces offered in Saxon Stag, introduced circa 1855. However, asparagus tongs in this pattern, possibly the first named Gorham pattern in which this piece type was made, are known, but no photograph is available. The serving ends on this implement are identical in form to those on other Gorham tongs illustrated in Figure 7. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
Gorham’s costing books also do not list piece types in its coin silver Grecian pattern, patented 1861, illustrated in Figure 1. The two shaped flat blades match except that the top one angles down at its origin and turns down at its front edge. The piercing designs of stylized anthemia also match. Engraved decoration parallels the margins of the blades on their top surfaces only. Movement of the upper arm is limited by a cylindrical rod that is fixed to the bottom arm and a knop at the top end. This piece is interesting because it has a “STERLING” mark. It was not uncommon in this period for unscrupulous dealers to pass off pieces made of coin silver as sterling. Asparagus tongs were offered in several other early Gorham patterns, including Medallion (patented 1864 but introduced earlier), Stag (1867), Bust (1867), and possibly others.4 There are no surviving archival photographs or catalogue illustrations that picture the form of any of these. During this same time frame, Gorham made a few large forks that we are confident were intended for serving asparagus, but none are mentioned in archival material.
A good candidate for the earliest American asparagus server of any type is the fork depicted in Figure 2 (bottom). It is of coin silver, marked for Palmer & Bachelder, who worked in Boston, probably as early as the 1840s, and certainly in the 1850s.5 The other similar fork in Figure 2 is a die-struck engraved sterling piece retailed by Tiffany & Co., made by an unknown manufacturer, circa 1850s. Both forks represent variations of a common type made by several makers in coin silver circa 1835-1860. A more ornate version named Beaded was patented by Gorham in 1861. We feel obliged to acknowledge that there is no documentary proof that our illustrated forks were designed for serving asparagus. Our designation is based on their obvious usefulness for that purpose, the absence 31
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6 Fig. 3. Asparagus tongs in the Knot or Love Knot pattern, maker unknown, ca. 1850s, coin silver, stamped on inside of top arm with “BALL BLACK & CO”; inscribed with “ATJ” within knot on top arm; inscribed with “(crowned lion’s head)” within knot on bottom arm. The piece has been photographed to show the bottom. Length 10 5/8 in., weight 6.8 oz. troy. Fig. 4. Asparagus fork, unknown pattern by Gale & Son, ca. 1853-1859, sterling silver, stamped on reverse with “W. GALE & SON / 925 / STERLING”; inscribed with “L.” Length 10 3/8 in., weight 4.1 oz. troy. Fig. 5. Two asparagus forks. Bottom: variant medallion pattern by Gorham, ca. 1866-1868, coin silver, stamped on reverse with “(lion) (anchor) G / HOWARD & CO.” Length 10 1/4 in.; weight 3.6 oz. troy. Top: Undine pattern by Wood & Hughes, ca. 1880-1895, sterling silver, stamped on reverse with “W (ampersand appearing as a 3 on its back) H / STERLING / PATENT”; inscribed with “MLK.” Length 10 3/8 in., weight 4.6 oz. troy. Fig. 6. Asparagus tongs in a medallion pattern by John L. Westervelt, ca. 1865, coin silver, marked on inside of top arm with “(five-pointed star) / (left-facing lion passant) / D.” Length 13 in., weight 8.2 oz. troy.
32
of a soundly based alternative theory, and their resemblance to the many later, even larger American forks known to have been sold as such. We think it highly unlikely that the American tradition of large silver forks for asparagus began abruptly without precursors at precisely the time from which the earliest printed silver catalogues survive. The coin silver tongs in Figure 3 are in form and size in the English tradition, although the engraved decoration is more typical of American tongs of the time. They are in a die-struck pattern commonly (and descriptively) called Knot or Love Knot, which was made by several American makers based on a French pattern. The example shown bears only the retailer’s mark of Ball, Black & Company of New York City. Stylistically, they could have been made in the 1840s but the firm of Ball, Black came into being only in 1851 as successors to Ball, Tompkins and Black.6 Both blades are handsomely decorated - the bottom blade with a pair of engraved pheasants in a central cartouche, and the top blade with similar engraving without the cartouche. On the bottom arm, there is an engraved English-style armorial of a crowned lion’s head. Figure 4 shows a large, five-tined asparagus fork, circa 1853-1859, by William Gale & Son of New York.7 The front is elaborately engraved, including the uncommonly large bowl between the tines and handle, which is also pierced with a heart. This piece is believed unique within serving forks in having a serving end slightly longer than its handle. Figure 5 (bottom) illustrates a large asparagus fork with a die-struck medallion variant by Gorham that is different from the firm’s Medallion pattern patented in 1864. This coin silver fork bears the retailer’s mark of Howard & Co. of New York. Since this firm was organized in 1866,8 and Gorham adopted the sterling standard in 1868, this piece can be dated to a rather narrow SILVER MAGAZINE
time frame. Gorham made several medallion flatware variants besides the Medallion pattern; this piece is the only known example of this medallion version. Figure 5 (top) illustrates another large asparagus fork in Wood & Hughes’s Undine, a die-struck scroll and floral pattern that is believed to have been produced from the mid-1870s to the 1890s and is scarce today. Noel Turner illustrates this pattern in his pioneering flatware book of 1972, dating it to 1845-18559 and Tere Hagan dates the Undine pattern to 1850.10 All pieces seen by us (including this fork) have been marked “W (ampersand appearing as a 3 on its back) H,” a mark in use only from 1871 onward.11 An interesting feature of the illustrated fork is the small die-struck medallion in the bowl surrounded by pierced arrowheads. The fact that a decorative medallion has been placed onto a piece not logically related to the medallion phenomenon strongly suggests that this fork was made during the second phase of the medallion flatware craze, circa 1880-1910.12 Figure 6 illustrates a pair of innovative asparagus tongs unlike the English-influenced form shown in Figure 3. This example is significantly longer, with the bottom arm ending in a large flat pierced rectangular blade and the top arm terminating in a giant contrived bird claw. The guide for the two arms consists of a cylindrical rod secured to neither arm, with a tiny secondary medallion on the top end depicting a classical helmeted male warrior. The primary medallions mounted in the U-bend feature a helmeted warrior on one side and an attractive female in profile on the other. This example of American coin silver flatware is marked for John L. Westervelt of Newburgh, New York, and dates from the early to mid-1860s. It is among the earliest examples of a new American form of asparagus tongs. In the same time frame, similar tongs with a large SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
Fig. 7a
Fig. 7 Fig. 7b
claw at the end of one arm were made for ice. The important difference is that, with ice tongs, the opposing functional end is a large pierced spoon rather than a flat, usually pierced rectangular blade as found on asparagus tongs. Tongs with claws on both arms are also only for ice. Figures 7, 7a and 7b show large coin silver tongs made by Gorham that, except for decoration, resemble the preceding example by Westervelt. Costing records from the Gorham archives indicate that heavy and expensive asparagus tongs in the Bust pattern were made. The company charged $29.74,13 which was quite a large sum for a piece of flatware in the 1860s. The illustrated tongs weigh 8.6 troy oz., nearly the same as the average weight of the Bust asparagus tongs in the costing book (8 oz.-6 dwt. troy). This example has male and female heads facing in opposite directions (Figures 7a & 7b), while all other examples in this rare pattern have a single Neoclassical bust. This makes us hesitant to proclaim the tongs as Bust.
Figs. 7, 7a, 7b. Asparagus tongs probably in the Bust pattern by Gorham, ca. 1870, sterling silver, stamped on inside of top arm with “(lion) (anchor) G / STERLING” and on inside of bottom arm “STARR & MARCUS.” Length 14 in., weight 8.6 oz. troy. The details show the faces of the double-headed finial bust, the male facing to the front (7a) and the female facing to the back (7b). Photos by Thomas R. DuBrock.
The claw on one arm of this specimen is similar to that of the Westervelt piece as to size, form and decoration. Flat rectangular blades on the opposing arms of both examples are virtually identical in size and form. The guide on the Gorham server is a cylindrical rod as on the Westervelt example but threaded and solidly secured with a small nut. The Gorham tongs are one inch longer, accounted for by the bust itself. One is drawn to the conclusion that one maker was imitating the other. Both of these pieces date from the 1860s. The serving ends on this Gorham example are identical to those on tongs in Saxon Stag, possibly made as early as circa 1855. Gorham was probably the originator and Westervelt the imitator. The next three examples are all by 33
Fig. 8
Fig.9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
John Wendt of New York City. Figure 8 depicts Wendt’s scarce Ram’s Head, a diestruck pattern that to our knowledge only Tere Hagan illustrates, dating it to 1865.14 It shows the influence of English asparagus tongs, with two blades decorated with identical engraving and piercing. The top blade has the usual turned-down front edge, and the yoke is secured at the bottom with a bolt. However, the blades are wider, shorter, and more eccentrically shaped than English examples. Figures 9 and 10 illustrate the earliest known instance of an American maker offering two forms of asparagus servers in the same pattern, Wendt’s Florentine, circa 1870.15 The tongs in Figure 9 are longer than the preceding Wendt example, and they are not engraved alike; only the top one is pierced. The short right-angle turndown at the end of the top blade has now retreated to a couple of slightly protruding “teeth.” The un-pierced bottom blade is decorated with an unusual engraved design consisting of a lion’s mask, ivy vines, and a cupid. The blades of the tongs
Fig. 8. Asparagus tongs in the Ram’s Head pattern by John Wendt, ca. 1870, sterling silver, stamped on inside of bottom arm with “PATENT / 925.” The piece has been photographed to show the bottom. Length 10 3/8 in., weight 6.8 oz. troy. Fig. 9. Asparagus tongs in the Florentine pattern by John Wendt, ca. 1870, sterling silver, stamped on inside of top arm with “PATENT / STERLING” and inside of bottom arm with “BALL BLACK & Co.” The piece has been photographed to show the bottom. Length 11 1/4 in., weight 7.3 oz. troy. Fig. 10. Details of the undersurfaces of bottom blades on the tongs shown in, left to right, Figs. 3, 9 and 8. All three have decoration on the undersurfaces of their bottom blades, which was common on coin and some early sterling examples. But this was not the case for early tongs made by Tiffany & Co. and later sterling tongs produced by most American makers. Fig. 11. Probable hooded asparagus server in the Florentine pattern by John Wendt, ca. 1870, sterling silver, stamped on reverse with “PATENT / STERLING / BALL BLACK & CO.” Length 10 5/8 inches, weight 4.2 oz. troy.
Fig. 12
34
Fig. 12. Two asparagus forks, patterns and makers unknown. Both ca. 1875-1885, sterling silver, and stamped on handle reverse with “STERLING / J. E. CALDWELL.” Top fork: length 10 in., weight 5 oz. troy. Bottom fork: length 10 in., weight 5 oz. troy.
SILVER MAGAZINE
Fig. 13 Fig. 13. Asparagus fork, pattern unknown, by Frank W. Smith, ca. 1895, all silver-gilt, marked on reverse with “STERLING / (S enclosed in scrollwork).” Length 10 1/4 in., weight 3.8 oz. troy. Fig. 14. Clam shell asparagus tongs, No. 400, by Gorham, ca. 1887, sterling silver, marked on inside of one arm with “(lion) (anchor) G / 400 / STERLING,” inscribed within cartouche on one side only “SHB.” Maximum width of each arm 4 in., maximum height 3 1/2 in.; when standing in the open position, maximum height of the piece is 2 3/4 in.; weight not available. Photo by Thomas R. DuBrock.
Fig. 14
Fig. 15a
in Figure 3 depart from the English mode only in their engraved decoration, whereas the blades on the two Wendt examples are innovative in both shape and decoration, reflecting an emerging family of styles that we still, for want of a better term, call “Victorian” (see Figure 10). Figure 11 shows what is probably a hooded asparagus server in the continental European mode with a longer and narrower serving end than we have observed in any European example. The serving end of this Wendt server is pointed, unlike a European example. We are not in full agreement that this is an asparagus server. It is thick in the area around and above the hood, which has been formed with an elaborate design that is die-struck rather than engraved, and represents Wendt in an experimental mode. To our knowledge, Wendt made such a piece in no other pattern, and no other American silver maker copied him in making one. Years later, some American makers would begin experimenting with European-style forms of the asparagus server. By the 1870s-1880s, the large fork is becoming the preferred American form for serving asparagus. Figure 12 illustrates two large sterling asparagus forks representative of the general form of the time. Both have the retailer mark of “J. E. CALDWELL” of Philadelphia, but neither has a maker’s mark. In this respect SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
they are similar to other sterling servers from this era retailed by Caldwell. Most examples have had basic Old English handles with ornate die-stamped decoration (Figure 12-top). Others, like the example in Figure 12 (bottom), have the same style handle but with elaborate engraved decoration. In the same time frame, Gorham’s similar Antique pattern was offered with a variety of engraved designs, while Tiffany made a pattern known descriptively as Custom Engraved.16 The unusual asparagus server in Figure 13 was made by the Frank W. Smith Silver Company of Gardner, Massachusetts. Frank Wyman Smith (1848-1904) worked in the silver manufactory of his kinsman, William B. Durgin (d. 1905) of Concord, New Hampshire until 1886, when he started his own successful factory in Gardner.17 This vermeil server (circa late 1880s–1890s) is a radical departure from the American tradition in asparagus silver, very French in style and feeling, and even more ornate than the majority of French examples. It is handdecorated with a variety of techniques including flat chasing, piercing and engraving, with an applied rococo ribbon that trails downward from a tripartite bow. Near the bottom of the blade, a stylized fleur-de-lis grows upward between lion heads. Figures 14, 15a and 15b illustrate a departure from American norms. Both
Fig. 15b
Figs. 15a, 15b. Clam shell asparagus tongs by the Mauser Manufacturing Company in the open and closed positions, ca. 1890, sterling silver, marked on inside of one arm (at the top) with “STERLINGSILVER / 925-1000 FINE / (chimera) [trademark] / 4201,” inscribed within urn-shaped cartouche with unreadable cursive cipher. Maximum width of each arm 4 1/4 in., weight not available. Flatware courtesy of Katherine Tirey (Lamm’s Antiques), Dallas, TX. Photos by Thomas R. DuBrock.
35
are “clam shell” asparagus tongs, designed to be held in the palm of either hand when picking up asparagus spears. This was a commonplace form in France in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, with most examples being silverplated (see two French solid silver examples in Part One).18 The illustration shows two of only four American sterling examples of this type that we have ever encountered. The one shown in Figure 14 is Gorham’s No. 400, introduced in 1887,19 and consists of two identical cast curved “arms” joined at the top with a spring-
loaded hinge. Each half has an asymmetrical pierced rococo design with scrolls and flowers surrounding a central symmetrical cartouche and shell motif. The similar example in Figures 15a and 15b is by the Mauser Manufacturing Company of New York City, who commenced the production of sterling objects in a wide range of types in 1887. The decorative work of this piece suggests a date of circa 1890. Each half is pierced in a design of leafed scrolls, flowers and leaves around an urn-shaped cartouche. As on the Gorham piece, the arms are joined at
the top by a spring-loaded hinge that holds them apart until compressed. The hinge mechanism in these tongs was patented in France by the silversmith Alphonse Debain in 1884.20
The final asparagus server article will appear in the next issue, illustrating and discussing sterling examples in late Victorian and early twentieth century styles.
Charles S. Curb, Ph.D., is a former college English professor who has been an antiques dealer and silver collector for more than thirty-five years. He resides in Arkansas and can be contacted at pregaind@centurytel.net. William P. Hood, Jr., M.D., is a retired cardiologist and former medical school professor who lives in Alabama. John R. Olson, M.D., practices pathology in Tennessee. Dale E. Bennett, M.D., is a retired pathologist and medical school professor residing in Texas.
NOTES 1. Dale E. Bennett, William P. Hood Jr. and Charles S. Curb, “The Evolution of the Silver Asparagus Server in Europe and America, Part One,” Silver Magazine 38, (July/August 2006), 29. 2. John F. Mariani, The Dictionary of American Food and Drink (New York: Hearst Books, 1994), 13. 3. The archives are among the special collections of the John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, RI. For facilitating access to this information, we are grateful to Samuel J. Hough, the librarian who organized and compiled a 500-page inventory of the archival material. 4. Flatware Costing Book 1 has entries for asparagus tongs in Stag on p. 20, in Medallion on p. 14, and in Bust on p. 24. The Medallion asparagus tongs are called No. 1. Other types of tongs in this pattern were offered as “No. 1, No. 2,” or occasionally as both. What these designations mean is unknown. These citations from the Gorham archives are reproduced with the permission of the Brown University Library. 5. Most sources (e. g., Stephen G. C. Ensko, American Silversmiths and Their Marks III [New York: Robert Ensko, 1948], 223; and Ralph &
36
Terry Kovel, Kovel’s American Silver Marks [New York: Crown Publishers, 1989], 282) agree that Palmer & Bachelder were active in Boston by 1850. 6. Dorothy T. Rainwater and Judy Redfield, Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers, rev. fourth ed. (Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1998), 36. 7. Ibid., 118. William Gale was involved in an incredible number of partnerships; his firm operated under the name William Gale & Son from 1853 to 1859 and again from 1862 to 1866. On stylistic and other grounds we date this piece to the earlier period. 8. Ibid., 159.
14. Hagan, Sterling Flatware, 115. 15. Ibid., 116, and Turner, American Silver, 369. Illustrated by both Hagan (who dates it to 1870) and Turner (who says, curiously, before 1870). 16. For Gorham’s Antique and its variations, see Charles H. Carpenter Jr., Gorham Silver (San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1997), 242; for Tiffany’s Custom Engraved, see William P. Hood Jr., with Roslyn Berlin and Edward Wawrynek, Tiffany Silver Flatware, 1845-1905: When Dining Was an Art (Woodbridge, Suffolk [UK]: Antique Collectors’ Club, 2000), 206-207. 17. Rainwater and Redfield, Encyclopedia, 313314.
9. Noel Turner, American Silver Flatware 18371910 (San Diego: A. S. Barnes, 1972), 131 and 384.
18. Bennett, Hood, and Curb, “Evolution of Asparagus Server,” 33.
10. Tere Hagan, Sterling Flatware: An Identification and Value Guide, rev. third ed. (Gas City, IN: L-W Book Sales, 1999), 88.
19. This piece is entered in Gorham’s Costing Book 5, 32. A photograph is found in the Silver Flatware Photo Book, 1896, 23.
11. Rainwater and Redfield, Encyclopedia, 376.
20. Personal communication from David Allan, Paris.
12. D. Albert Soeffing, Silver Medallion Flatware (New York: New Books, 1988), 14-15. 13. Entered in Flatware Costing Book 1, 24.
SILVER MAGAZINE
Place Your open 1/8 Ad Here Contact April Walker via e-mail at sales@silvermag.com to place your ad today.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
37
Book
eviews
Feeding Desire, Design and the Tools of the Table 1500-2005 Review by William Chandler Co-Authors: Sarah Coffin, Ellen Lupton, Darra Goldstein Publisher: Assouline Publishing, New York, in association with CooperHewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 2006. Hardcover, 9 1/4 x 12 inches, 288 pages, 357 color plates ISBN: Hardcover: 2-84323-845-5; Paper: 2-84323-847-1 Price: Hardcover: US $65; Paper: US $40. To order: Phone: 212-989 6810; Website: www.assouline.com he Cooper-Hewitt, National Design
Coffin and Ellen Lupton, and their guest
in its presentation of the varied table cus-
Museum in New York City has
co-curator Darra Goldstein, are joined in
toms that have prevailed among Europeans
mounted an extensive exhibition on the
the catalogue by four additional contribu-
and Americans.
origins, history and lore of dining table
tors; Philippa Glanville, Carolin C. Young,
Suzanne von Drachenfels, author of
utensils in western Europe and the United
Suzanne von Drachenfels and Jennifer
The Art of the Table: A Complete Guide to Table
States over the past five hundred years.
Goldsborough. Each of their essays forms a
Setting, Table Manners, and Tableware, con-
Drawn primarily from the museum’s own
chapter in the book. Sarah D. Coffin, curator
tributes a historical commentary on “The
superb collections, the exhibition and its
and head of the museum’s Department of
Design of Table Tools and the Effect of Form
catalogue emphasize silver table utensils.
Product Design and Decorative Arts, opens
on Etiquette and Table Setting.” Design his-
Examples of utensils made of other mate-
with a “Historical Overview.” Philippa
torian and teacher Jennifer Goldsborough’s
T
rials are also presented, including wood, hardstone, ceramics, glass, plastics and other metals. The well-designed catalogue is richly illustrated with hundreds of historical artifacts and a few period paintings and
The grand scope of topics presented in Feeding Desire will enable many silver collectors to achieve a fuller perspective and enjoyment of their collections.
illustrations carefully chosen for their interpretive enrichment of the topics
Glanville, former chief curator of Metalwork
“The Proliferation of Cutlery and Flatware
discussed. Given the complicated nature of
at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London,
Designs in Nineteenth Century America,”
the subject – five centuries of dining tools
follows with an invaluable survey of “Man-
presents the uniquely American innova-
and methods that were seldom if ever stan-
ufacturing and Marketing in Europe,
tions and sometime excesses of the
dard from one region to the next – the
1600-2000.”
so-called Golden Age of Flatware. Ellen
seven contributing authors have achieved
Carolin C. Young, a dining historian and
Lupton, Cooper-Hewitt’s curator of Con-
an admirably detailed and nuanced survey
a trustee of the Oxford Symposium on Food &
temporary Design, closes with “Modern
of the field. Their well-structured essays are
Cookery, has contributed an agreeably startling
Flatware and the Design of Lifestyle,” a dis-
rich in interpretive commentaries and
chapter on “The Sexual Politics of Cutlery.”
cussion of the vast changes in usage,
evocative period anecdotes that will be use-
Darra Goldstein, a Williams College professor
materials and design expressions seen in
ful, entertaining and perhaps surprising for
and founding editor of Gastronomica: The Jour-
flatware in the Modern and Post-Modern
new students and veteran collectors alike.
nal of Food and Culture, has provided a chapter
periods.
Two Cooper-Hewitt curators, Sarah D. 38
on “The Implements of Eating,” which is rich
The grand scope of topics presented SILVER MAGAZINE
in Feeding Desire will enable many silver
several countries, including this one, as a
its namesake exhibition will continue at
collectors to achieve a fuller perspective
patrician, effeminate or even satanic affec-
the Cooper-Hewitt in New York City un-
and enjoyment of their collections. Several
tation, but the truth of the assertion is ably
til October 29, 2006, and will reopen on the
engaging points are emphasized. For ex-
documented in several of the essays.
West Coast at the American Center for
ample, many of today’s silver collectors
For those eager to see the actual pieces
Wine, Food and the Arts, in Napa, Califor-
might be startled to learn that the dinner
so beautifully presented in the catalogue,
nia, from January 29 through April 30,
fork was manfully resisted for centuries in
2007.
Duits Zilver na Bauhaus: de Verzameling Vic Janssens Review by Martin Chasin Authors: Dr. Rüdiger Joppien and Luc Wellens Publisher: Snoeck Publishers, Ghent, Silver Museum Sterckshof Province of Antwerp, 2004 Paperback, 10 5/8” x 8 1/2”, 136 pp., Sterckshof Studies 25 ISBN: 90-5349-496-0 To order: www.provant.be/sterckshof/engels/sh6e.htm, $44.83 plus shipping
n 2002, the Silver Museum Sterckshof Province of Antwerp purchased a collection of 200 pieces of contemporary German silver assembled by Vic Janssens (1909-2001), a native of Antwerp. Janssens had an interest in German silver from before World War II. After the war, Janssens visited the famous Franfurt Fair where he would see the handmade pieces by German silversmiths and purchased what he liked. His collection included utilitarian pieces in what the authors describe as a “sober form,” by which they seem to mean a simple style. The collection contains pieces by smiths born between the years 1907 and 1967. Interestingly enough, this catalogue even includes photographs of the silversmiths. Dr. Rüdiger Joppien has contributed an informative essay on the collection and on the secretive – indeed mysterious – Janssens, whose collection was unknown until his heirs approached the museum. Apparently, the range and quality of the collection have no equal – even in Germany. This volume is a beautifully illustrated and fully documented catalogue of Janssens’s collection. Translations of the
I
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
essays are provided in Dutch, English, French and German, thereby rendering it available to a wider audience. The catalogue is arranged alphabetically by artist, where his or her pieces are listed chronologically by the date produced. While the catalogue entry is in Dutch, the information on each artist is also given in the other three languages. There is an explanatory list of the terms used and a translation of the Dutch terms in the three languages. The catalogue illustrates that the
by Matthias Engert is simple, yet startlingly original in shape and in its use of ebony. Silversmiths Doris RaymannNowak and Gotthold Schvenwandt have created intriguing shapes and produced unusual and captivating finishes to the surface of their works. German silver has traditionally been produced in an 800
This volume brings to a wide audience the important work in contemporary silver crafted in Germany. most striking feature about these high quality pieces is the original and innovative designs of utilitarian objects. Design simplicity permits the soft, smooth metal to gleam in all its majestic beauty. One example is a teapot by Andreas Decker which has an unusual shape, almost a flying saucer, with an “L” shaped spout and a warm brown yew wood handle that offsets the cold beauty of the silver. A three piece altar set
standard, however, where the hallmarks are provided the standard seems to be the English and American standard of 925. This volume brings to a wide audience the important work in contemporary silver crafted in Germany. For me, it was the most original and exciting body of designs and concepts that I have seen being produced in contemporary silver. It is a volume worth reading – and one that rewards the reader in many ways. 39
spencer collection 1/4 new
40
SILVER MAGAZINE
C L A S S I F I E D S Silver Magazine CLASSIFIED ads reach a worldwide audience of thousands of dedicated silver enthusiasts. The rate is only $1.00 per word when submitted typewritten via mail or facsimile and $.80 when submitted via e-mail. There is a $10.00 minimum fee. All classified ads must be prepaid before the deadline. November/December 2006 copy and payment must reach the desk of Silver Magazine prior to September 15, 2006. No advertising proofs are furnished on classified advertisements. Contact Silver Magazine: P.O. Box 10246, Greensboro, NC 27404 or via e-mail at sales@silvermag.com.
For Sale: Lyne Costa’s “MATTLYNE HOUSE”. PRICES EACH.(*Mono). STERLING:- TIFFANY VINE (Grape)Large Serving Spoon $495.00, Large C.M.Fork $495.00; WINTHROP 8 Demitasse Spoons $325.00 set, SARATOGA Stuffing Spoon $750.00, PALM Set of Master Saltspoons $209.00 pair, WAVE EDGE Cream Sauce Ladle $295.00, Sugar Sifter (shell bowl) $355.00. GORHAM NIGHTINGALE(Engraved/Bright-cut pattern). Two-piece Fish Serving Set* $695.00 pair, Ice Cream Blade & 12 Spoons* (G/W bowls) $1,275.00 set; A/S Oyster Soup Ladle* (12”) $425.00, MEDICI,OLD Four Large Serving Spoons (8.75”)$699.00 set, Substantial A/S Soup Ladle $675.00, Nine Seafood Forks $499.00 set, Sugar Shell (G/W Floral Engraved Bowl) $110.00; CORINTHIAN Pudding Serving Spoon* (Light G/W Bowl) $399.00. COIN:- GORHAM GRECIAN Pudding Spoon* (9.3/8) (Bowl’s perimeter-edge engraved zig-zag/herringbone motif) $339.00, Master Saltspoon (5.1/4”) $115.00; JOHN C.FARR,Phil.TUSCAN Stuffing Spoon (12.3/4”) $650; KNOWLES&LADD EMPEROR Pie Server (Floral engraved blade) $379.00; FARRINGTON&HONEYWELL Boston Condiment Ladle (5.1/4”) (G/W Bowl) $125.00; JONES,LOW&BALL LARGE Soup Ladle*(Forward Fiddle-Tipped Handle) $355.00; JOHN WENDT FLORENTINE,Sugar Sifter* (7.5/8”) $385.00. TEL.559-627-3182. FAX.559-627-3039. Silverlyne23@aol.com MEXICAN STERLING HALLMARK REFERENCE BOOK. “The Little Book of Mexican Silver Trade and Hallmarks,” by Billie Hougart. ISBN 0-9711202-0-X, 152pp illustrated. The only book dedicated solely to marks on 20th century Mexican sterling. Over 1,200 designer, trade and maker marks, 400+ illustrations. www.cicatrix.com Sterling Silver: Hollowware, Jewelry, Souvenir Spoons, Coin Silver and Small Sterling Pieces. E-mail sameyers1@aol.com. SUE ANN MEYERS, PO Box 80533, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, (949) 215-5254. ANTIQUE CUPBOARD, INC-The Nations’ largest selection of fine Victorian silver. Offering pattern matching in over 1000 patterns of sterling. • ANTIQUE ENGRAVED – Tiffany: Teaspoon, Salad Set, Sugar Sifter • AVALON-INTER: Saratoga Chip Svr, Soup Ldl, Tea Strainer • BARONIAL OLD – Gorham: Hooded Asparagus Svr • BUTTERCUP – Gorham: Ice Cream Fks, Pea Spoon • CARMEL – Wallace: 11” Round Tray, 14” Round Tray, 2 ea Bon Bon/Nut Dishes, 12 ea Fruit/Dessert Bowls • CHRYSANTHEMUM- Tiffany: Asparagus Fk-Fancy, Ice Spoon, Saratoga Chip Svr, Toast Fk • CONTINENTAL – Jensen: 11- Din Sz Settings • DIAMOND – R&B: SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
4pc Tea Set • ENGLISH KING – Tiffany: Indiv Asparagus Tong, Cheese Scoop, Fish Serv Set, Ice Tong/Chicken Claw, Punch Ldl, Salad Set • IRIS – Durgin: 6-Ice Cream Spns, 6-Ice Cream Fks, Ice Cream Slice, 6- Salad Fks, Asparagus Fk, Meat Fk, Confection Spn • ITALIAN – Tiffany: Asparagus Tongs-Yoked • LILY – Whiting: Bouillon Ldl, Cheese Scoop, Grapefruit Spns, Ice Tong, Pie Svr • LOUIS XV – Whiting: 3 Handled Trophy – Presented 1898 • MEADOW – Gordon: Hooded Asparagus Svr, Cucumber, Horseradish Scoop, Nut Spoon • MEDALLION – Wendt: Knives – FHAS, 10-Ramekin Fks, Pie Svr, Salad Set, Berry Spn, Preserve Spoon • NEW ART – Durgin: Asparagus Fk, Ice/Nut Spn, Sugar Spn • OLD COLONIAL – Towle: Cracker Scoop, Horseradish Scoop, Footed Cake Plate • OLD FRENCH – Gorham: 2pc Vegetable Serv Set – Fork has unusual cut-out tines, Relish Fork – 7 tines • PARIS – Gorham: Ice Tongs, Asparagus Fk, Cucumber Svr • ST CLOUD – Gorham: Ice Cream Forks, Ice Cream Spns, Master Butter Kn, Pie Svr, Fish Serv Set, Soup Ldl • VIOLET – Whiting: Ice Cream Fks, Petit Four Tong, Sugar Sifter, Tea Strainer CALL TOLL FREE: 1-888-394-2960 SILVER CARE PRODUCTS: The finest in silver polishes, polishing cloths and storage bags. Fair prices and prompt shipping. www.collectordepot.net OVERTONS STERLING SILVER: Matching service and large stock of old flatware & silver books. Phone & Fax 949-498-5330. Email edwhiffen@aol.com. SILVERWARE CHESTS: World’s finest stock and custom-made silverware chests. All interiors customized for your sterling. Visit: www.jewelry-chests.com/ Silverware_Chests or call Russell Pool Fine Woodworking (888) 731-5100 EARLY AMERICAN COIN SILVER: Prince Albert Dinner Forks (12), Stebbins & Co. (NYC, c. 1840), $240; Porringer, William Moulton IV (Newburyport, MA, c. 1820), $1,100; Sheaf of Wheat Tablespoon, Frederick Marquand (Savannah, GA, c. 1826), $175. Hampton Galleries, (212) 326-0846. Photographs available at: http://www.cyberattic.com/~hamptonsilver/ American coin silver, flatware, hollowware, 18th century, and Southern. www.cyberattic.com/pleasures Past Pleasures Antiques, PO Box 3020, Daphne, AL 36526 PH: (251) 621.3535 MANUFACTURERS’ MARK ON AMERICAN COIN SILVER, by John R. McGrew, a useful reference book on pseudo hallmarks. Soft cover, 204 pages, 800+ photographs. To order, please send check payable to the author to: Argyros Publications, 355 Park Heights 41
C L A S S I F I E D S
Blvd, Hanover, PA, 17331-4037. $40 plus $4 shipping, PA residents add $2.64 sales tax.
Wanted: “WANTED” SILVER MADE BY CLEMENS FRIEDELLPASADENA (619) 299-4769, thirdthorn@sbcglobal.net WANTED: Private collector seeks DURGIN ‘DUBARRY’ aka ‘MADAME DUBARRY’ SOUP LADLE Contact Anthony Parker, 410.467.3567. WANTED: Trianon sterling by International Silver ca. 1921. Private collector paying top-dollar for hollowware, plates, trays, candlesticks, compotes, and unique serving pieces. Telephone Edward Smith at (863) 687-4411 Ext. 1207 to discuss what you have, or for catalog pictures to help identify. WANTED: SILVER MINIATURES, sterling or .800, especially household miniatures (furniture, tea equipment, etc.), prefer old, but all inquiries answered. Martines’ Antiques, 516 E. Washington St., Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022, (440) 247-6421. Wanted: CHINESE EXPORT SILVER 19th and 20th century. Also seeking Gorham Repousse Style Silver Bowls & Trays. Jonathon D. Barber, 858-759-1281. VOLUND SHOP and DODGE silver, copper and jewelry wanted. Bruce Johnson (828) 628-1915.
42
SILVER MAGAZINE
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Kraus Antiques, LTD.................... 42 (772) 465-0770 Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales ................................ 7 (919) 644-1243 Louis Wine LTD. ......................... IBC (416) 929-9333 Martin Chasin Fine Arts .............. 10 (888) 446-9441 Manuel Alcino ............................... 37 +351 225371909 Maxine Klaput Antiques ............. 42 (877) 624-8823 Replacements, LTD. ...................... 15 (800) 737-5223 San Francisco Antiques Show.......3 29(800) 737-5223 Set Your Table................................. 42 (800) 600-2127 Spencer Marks.................................. 7 (508) 688-6990 Suzanne Sugg................................. 43 (325) 653-5723 The McNally Company Antiques ...................................... BC (858) 756-1922 The Silver Queen Inc.................... 42 (800) 262-3134
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A ew Discovery N in the Gorham Hamburg Pattern by Bryan Abbott
I
nnovation and excess were the earmarks of many successful American silver manufacturers during the late nineteenth century. Large firms, such as Gorham Manufacturing Company and Tiffany & Co., capitalized on the emerging demand for a variety of aesthetic forms. The response to consumer demand reached it’s height with innovative extravagance in design in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The aesthetic design influence is seen as late as the 1920s. Many patterns were diestruck in relief and required hand-finish work. A few of the patterns like Gorham Hamburg required numerous processes to create the finished product. Unlike many flatware patterns, no two pieces of Hamburg flatware are identical. If you were to view 12 teaspoons, you would find that each one would have noticeably different shape and finish work. The most obvious decorative element in this pattern would be the raised die-struck ornaments that are found on every piece. These ornaments are generally taken from nature and include, but are not limited to, mammals, fish, fowl and invertebrates. Owing to the esoteric nature and fabrication costs of this pattern, production was limited and pieces seldom
44
appear on today’s market. I have owned three pieces in over 20 years of pursuing rare American flatware. During my tenure at a major national auction house, only once did Gorham Hamburg come to us. An informal survey of several respected silver dealers reinforces the conclusion that Hamburg is rare. A consensus is that it ranks among the hardest to find American flatware patterns of the Aesthetic Movement. I recently purchased two bowls which appear to be in the Hamburg pattern that may represent a new discovery to Hamburg collectors. After discussion with fellow collectors and silver dealers, we are unable to establish the existence of any other hollowware in this pattern. Hamburg collectors will agree that these closely match the pattern. As is expected with hand made objects, there are some slight differences in weight, measurements and decoration. One measures 9 3/16” across at the rim, and weighs 411.8 grams, the other measures 9 1/8” and weighs 425.2 grams. The die-struck medallion style stamps have the same depictions on each piece but in different order. The stamps are
in lower relief than what is on the flatware and not as refined. The finish on the outer rim is hammered and there is an unusual textured finish on the underside. These bowls are clearly marked on the base, each with the Gorham trademark, “Sterling,” “Boar’s Head” (date indicator of 1885) and the number “1870.” The bowls rest on four gourd shaped feet. Because they seem unique, one might argue that they are experimental pieces but this is open to conjecture. To the best of my knowledge there was no uniform code used by Gorham as an indicator on their early experimental work. More accurately put, if they did have a uniform code for experimental pieces, it may not have been applied in a universal fashion. I have handled very unusual hollowware by Gorham with the mark “EX.” in addition to their trademark, date and standard markings. There are diverse opinions and some factual information available on the subject Gorham experimental work. There is a general lack of information on Gorham Hamburg. Perhaps one day, collectors of this pattern will share information about Gorham Hamburg.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
45