Covered Dish with Grapes 1907 from Peacock's

I have never heard of this maker or seller but I ran across this advertisement for a quadruple plate baking dish with a nine inch enameled dish, grape pattern, french grey polish from C.D. Peacock, State Street at Adams Chicago Illinois. It is from Pearson's Magazine 1907. Peacock's Chicago claims to have been established in 1937. What is unclear here though is if the dish comes from a different maker and is just sold by Peacocks or if it is their own creation. They claim to be importers, diamond merchants and gold and silversmiths.

!847 Rogers Brothers Charter Oak Advertisment. Perason's 1907

A New Pattern
in a Famous Brand

CHARTER OAK is the name of the newest
pattern in" 11.17 ROGERS DROS." " Silver Plate
that Wears." Particularly appropriate is this
name for the pattern brought out in the 6oth
anniversary year of the original Rogers
Brothers ware, which was first made iu 1847
in Hartford, the home of the Charter Oak. "1847 Rogers Bros:

knives, spoons, forks, etc., enjoy the distinc-
tion of being the best in silver plate. The
Charter Oak pattern is noteworthy in
the richness and finish of the design,
which is a combination of Bright and
French Gray, giving to the various pieces
an unusual degree of beauty anil charac-
ter. Send for Catalogue " J-38 " show.-
ing this and the other leading patterns.

MERIDEN BRITANNIA CO., Meriden, Conn.

(International Silver Co., Successor.)

Advertisment for the Charter Oak Pattern From 1847 Rogers Brothers

This is an advertisement found in Pearson's Magazine 1907. It features the Charter Oak pattern and Ralston Health Food. It does give a brief reason why Charter Oak is named Charter Oak. 

In search of a silver lining : SearchChicago Homes : News

In search of a silver lining : SearchChicago Homes : News

Another advertisment from 1847 Rogers Brothers Featuring the Charter Oak Pattern

This advertisement shows some of the more unusual serving pieces in the very popular Charter Oak pattern.  What is nice about an advertisement like this is that it shows both the pattern pieces and the general shape of pieces that would have been copied by the International Silver company into other patterns. Shown are serving ware such as an oyster fork, child's sets, orange spoons, cucumber server, berry spoon, cold meant fork, ice cream fork, and pickle fork. For standard serving flatware check this post.


"The "Charter Oak" pattern, illustrated above, has proved very popular since its introduction, last summer. The design, in which the acorn and oak leaf are employed effectively, is one of marked individuality and character. The finish is a combination of French Gray and bright, the ornamental part being gray and the tines, bowls and shields bright."

1847 Rogers Brothers Advertisment for the Charter Oak Pattern from 1907

 This is an advertisement made by the International Silver Company to promote their Charter Oak pattern. This is a very popular silverplate pattern and is highly sought after. While this advertisement only shows standard flatware pieces Charter Oak was made into a variety of interesting serving pieces. 

"The Charter Oak pattern, as will be seen by the illustration, possesses an unusual degree of character. The oak leaf and acorn are combined in a graceful design that lends itself readily to the somewhat unusual finish—a combination of Bright and French Grey. Even thus early it is evident that the Charter Oak is to be one of the most popular patterns. We make a full line. We should advise that orders be placed early in order to avoid delay.

Supplied to Retailers by all Leading Jobbers."

1847 Rogers Pattern Priscilla Pattern Advertisment from 1907

Here we have an advertisement from the International Silver Company that shows the Priscilla pattern.  Marked with the 1847 Rogers Bro. stamp.

1847 Rogers Brothers Advertisment with Old Colony and Cromwell Patterns

This is an advertisement from House Beautiful in 1914. It contains examples of the Old Colony and Cromwell patterns. The makers listing is the International Silver Co. successors to the Meriden Britannia Co. which joined with other makers to form International in 1898. I do not know who the woman in the bonnet is but she appears quite often in advertisements for the1847 Rogers Bros. line of goods.

Book Review: The Elegance of Old Silverplate and Some Personalities Edmund P. Hogan

I managed to get a copy of The Elegance of Old Silverplate and Some Personalities.  This book was written by Edmund P. Hogan and published in 1980 by Schiffer Publishing Ltd.  This is a pretty fantastic book.  Hogan covers the industry and industrial methods of silver plate in the first part stressing the amount of hand work that went into a piece. He focuses on the Victorian period which is considered by many to be the height of artistic silver plate production. Not in quantity but in quality and the unusual nature of the pieces.

The rest of the book separates out particular items with a brief commentary about use and history.  Hogan provides lots of representative pictures, showing high and lower grade wares. This is something that many books on silver leave out. They tend to focus on only exemplary examples while Hogan provides a variety.  Among the pictures are reprints of catalogue pages many of them from catalogues that are inaccessible to the average person.

The sections he covers are as follows:

Hand Chasing

            Hogan examines the way that silverplate was designed and hand worked in a factory setting. I feel that understanding this helps in identifying pieces because recognizing quality work means less reliance on marks to identify a time period and quality grade.

Sculpture for the Fairs

            Like Moskowitz Hogan covers the ways that fairs helped to drive trade and create a public for wares.

The first section is listed as Tablewares

Call Bells

Napkin Rings

Ice Pitchers

Butter Dishes

Dinner Casters

Pickle Casters

Cracker or Biscuit Jars

Nut and Fruit Bowls (or as many know them Brides baskets though there is a separate category for these)

Tea Sets

Spoon Holders (Spooners)

Oddities (spittoons, tooth pick holders, match safes, self pouring teapot, sardine boxes, celery stands, pepper boxes, mustache cups, mustache spoons and orange peelers)

Vintage Flatware (Primarily focusing on Vintage pattern, types of quality marks, unusual pieces and types of knives)

Children’s Silverware.

The second section is listed as Housewares.

            Card Receivers

            Jewel Caskets

            Brides Baskets

            Oil Lamps

            Lavatory sets

            Toilet Stands

            Toilet ware (brushes, combs, button hooks, mirrors, puff boxes)

The third sections are brief biographies on personalities in the silver industry.

             Ashbil Griswold

            W.W. Lyman

            The Rogers Brothers

            Joseph Bourne

You can see the details of the book here.

Finding a flatware pattern.

When searching for flatware patterns, before I built up my library, I used a hodge-podge of silver websites to find information. None of them are "complete" and they vary greatly in usability and organization.

One such site is Silver Tableware. Like many sites it is a commercial venture, but it is also nice enough to make its information open to everyone. I think this helps to drive commerce in the silver trade. Basically, people find grandma's silver at a garage sale or in the attic and think that it is worth a fortune. Then they seek out pattern -usually through the makers mark- to try and find out what it is and what it is worth. In some cases I suspect that there are folks looking to expand their set but I think that the vast majority are people that will search for about ten minuted on the web to find what a piece is. Be that as it may, there are folks like myself that through this process have become slightly obsessed with pattern identification. This in turn helps to create a market for silver.


What I need to do is interview some silver dealers and hear their theories on this. Here are some questions that may have interesting answers.

1. What is the most common questions you receive about silver?
2. How do you think people "think" about silver today?
3. What drives the silver market?
4. What "theories" do people have about silver?
5. What is your most common type of customer?
6. What makes your "best" customer?
7. How do you think most people value (guess the worth of) the silver they posses?
8. What do you sell the most of?
9. What is the most common type of silver that people bring in?
10. What is the weirdest question you have received?