Butter Dish, Rogers Smith & Company

Looked at this pretty nice butter dish this weekend. It was a bit out of my price range. Still, it is a good idea to study pieces even if they are out of your price range. The first good reason is if you win the lottery you will be prepared for the pieces you want. Second, it helps your silver education. This piece was at an antique mall I had not been to for a couple of years. I was surprised at the amount of silver they had available. Some of it quite good. Most of it quite pricey. They had a very nice goat dish that I got a picture of. I hope to post that soon. It was pretty nice for a small serving piece. This butter dish seemed to be in pretty good condition. It had some plate missing but it was in places where it would be expected. I did not get the chance to look inside so I do not know the full condition.  Being locked in a case I did not want to bother the owners to get it out for me.

This piece was made by the Rogers Smith & Co.  It is marked West Meriden.

This firm was organized in 1857 and consolidated with the Rogers Brothers Manufacturing Co. in 1861.

The flatware division of Rogers Brother Mfg. Co. was sold to Meriden Britannia Co..

In 1862 Edward Mitchell bought out the holloware division of Rogers Brothers Mfg. Co..
He formed the Rogers Smith & Co. of New Haven.

In 1863 Meriden Britannia Company bought this out and continued using the factory in New Haven.

The works of the factory were moved to Meriden in 1865 and consolidated in 1866.

In 1877 the mark and works were fully incorporated into Meriden Britannia Company.   

According to Rainwater (2004) a piece marked "West Meriden" would have been made between 1877 and the early 1880's.