Little Cup from the Van Bergh Silver Plate Company and Some Company History

 

This past weekend on Super Silver Saturday I also picked up this little cup for a pittance. It does not look like much right now because of the tarnish, but the plate is underneath. I gave it a quick once over and that made a small dent in the black and nasty but it will take a bit more to get it clean. Sometimes tarnish comes off like a breeze and sometimes it takes seven or eight polishing sessions to recover a piece. 

This piece on the outside wall has a very fine texture, a floral motif and a scrolled handle. It is marked Van Bergh Silver Plate Co. Rochester New York, Quadruple Plate and "738". The rim could be in better condition, but I still like it. 

The Van Bergh Silver Plate Company was founded in 1892 by Fredrick W. and Maurice H. Van Bergh. They were brothers. In 1925 they incorporated as the Van Bergh Silver Plate Company Inc. In 1926 they were absorbed by Oneida Community Limited and moved from Rochester to Oneida New York. (Rainwater, 2006) According to Rainwater they also used a mark reading "Britannia Metal Co." (with or without a star), V B Co N S (letters in boxes,  NS I am guessing means nickel silver) as well as with marks bearing their name.

Silver Collection has a picture of their mark here. 

Van Bergh gets a brief mention and a picture of their works in the trade magazine The Metal Industry Vol. 20 1920.

Electroplating Room of the Van Bergh Silver Plate Company Rochester NY

The Van Bergh Silver Plate Company's plant in Main street west is the only concern of its kind in Rochester. Frederick W. Van Bergh is president of the company. George Hesselink, president of the Rochester Branch, is in charge of the plating department.

Van Bergh seems to have been expanding in May of 1920 as Merchandising Week reports that they had filed for a patent on light fixtures.



The Metal Record and Electroplater in 1902 Vol 3 Issue 11 mentions a connection with the Ordnance Department, but not what it was.

"M. H. Van Bergh, vice-president of the Van Bergh Silver Plate Co., Rochester, N. Y., recently offered his services gratis to General Crozier of the Ordnance Department. On Wednesday, Nov. 7, he received a wire to come to Washington. Mr. Van Bergh arranged his business and left Thursday for the capital."



Their plant Experienced a fire at some point and relocated according to Platers Guide Vol 1 1905 it seems that they remained a small firm during this time:

"The Van Bergh Silver Plate Company, of Rochester, N. Y., whose plant was recently destroyed by fire, will rebuild, and have purchased the site of the Roby Building on Main street, West. The new building will cover the whole site from Main and Hill streets to the canal. Part of the building will be rented, as it will be too large for their own use."



In 1898 The Van Bergh Silver Plate company was also a member of the Humane Society.



Van Bergh gets a small paragraph about the opening of the Silversmiths Building in Chicago in The Jewlers Circular May 24 1897. The whole article about the building is well worth a read.

"OTHER TENANTS.

The Van Bergh Silver Plate Co., J. C. Carroll, manager, occupy quarters on the 4th floor of the Silversmiths' building, and Chas. A. Allen, silver plater, will be ready this week to use his improved appliances on the 5th floor. The fixtures for his factory are all new, and were being placed in position last week, C. A. Allen having cut short his Florida visit to return here and superintend the new work."

 

Little Bowl from E.G. Webster and Son

I picked up this little guy two weeks ago on Saturday. I it was four dollars. Not to bad for a repousse piece. Really tarnished silver is often priced super low because it seems to be "ruined" and often it is. This piece was ignored by the "pricers" of the estate sale and I benefited.  It was black as night and I finally got polished on Friday. That's right, an exciting Friday night polishing silver. 

this piece was made by E.G. Webster & Son N.Y. and its number is 440. It is pretty small, but the details are amazing.  In between the flowers and the scrolls are textured surfaces that have been chased. The feet are cast and soldered. This according to Hagan is a sign of quality work. I had not noticed it when I picked it up, but in the polishing, the handles are little sea creatures. This does not quite fit with the floral motif that the rest of the decorations reflect but I am a big fan of weird stuff like that. Perhaps, that's why I find colonial styles of silver to be so boring. There is a tiny amount of pitting in the bowl, but it really is so minor that I think for a piece its age it is forgivable. 

So let us consult Rainwater and see if we can find a bit about E.G. Webster. They were formed in Brooklyn New York in 1859. They have had three names:

Webster Mfg. Co. 1859 - 1873

E.G. Webster & Bros. 1873 - 1886

E.G. Webster & Son 1886 - 1928

in 1928 the son ( Fred H. Webster that formed the Son in the mark) sold the business to the International Silver Company. The factories were moved from Brooklyn to Meriden.  Rainwater states that they were well known for their "highly chased holloware and English reproductions". The webster trademark was used until 1961 when it was changed to Webster-Wilcox. This continued until 1981. At this time it was sold to Oneida.