Simpson Hall & Miller water pitcher

This was at one point a beautiful water pitcher by Simpson Hall & Miller. Marked as patented July 5th 1881, it has had a hard life. It's missing it's inside liner. The finial is broken. The plate is damaged, yet with its fish handle and marvelous spout it still retains some of its former glory.

Another Cup

I picked up this little gem because I liked the handle and it was very inexpensive. It could do with a polish but I am afraid hat doing so will reveal that most of the plate is gone. I put it next to the old Frankoma coffee mug to give it some colour and scale. Plus its morning here and therefore is coffee time. 

The marks on the cup were hard to read, but it is from the Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. from Wallingford Connecticut.  Its catalog number is 404. Across the front it has so large elephant ear type plant. My mother could identify the plant right off but not knowing too much about tropical plants thats the description I will stick with. 

I am posting a lot right now both because I have a little time and I have a backlog in the collection to catch up with. 

To learn more about S.H. & Miller you should read this post. 

Simpson, Hall, Miller & Company Almond Bowl 1894

This is an advertisement for an almond bowl from Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. This advertisement appears in The Century magazine in 1894. What is interesting here besides this unusual Victorian piece of silverplate is the advertisement mentions the unnecessary nature of luxury goods.

It claims that fine china and silver make life better by their aesthetic qualities "Life Brightening". It also instructs the reader in the use of the almond bowl where the almonds are placed in the middle nut bowl and then distributed into the cups on the edge for the individual. To be honest, if I came across this piece for sale I would have had no idea what it was originally used for.

Dragon Pitcher, Simpson Hall and Miller, Pride of the Collection

 

This silverplate pitcher is part of the pride of the collection. It has an inside spout shield, incised decorations and the figure of a dragon on top. The dragon is not quite the Welsh dragon but is close enough as far as Victorian silverplate goes for my taste. If it is not a dragon it might be described as a sphinx though it is defiantly not an Egyptian sphinx.  Its tail is a swirly scaled affair almost like a sea monster but there is no other sign of sea life on the pitcher so I think this can be dismissed. The scroll work on the side and the shape of the handle add a Persian influence, perhaps Assyrian. Look at the handle, the scroll work, shape and proportion recall the ancient world.  I have not yet found this piece in a catalogue but I hope to soon.  

It is from Simpson, Hall and Miller, also known as Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co.  from Wallingford Connecticut. They were founded in 1866.  By 1895 they were manufacturing sterling. They also had the contract to manufacture the Eagle Wm rogers Star Brand flatware. In 1898 they were a founding member of the International Silver Company. When they joined international, they focused mainly on sterling becoming the center of the International Silver Companies sterling production. This means their mark was used well beyond 1898 for sterling ware. Silver plate was left to to other companies, Derby, Wilcox, Meriden Britannia Company.

Above we see some of the marks used by Simpson, Hall, Miller and Co. This is not exhaustive of the marks that they used. The pitcher uses a mark of the name Simpson, Hall, Miller and Co. above a rectangle that reads quadruple plate with Wallingford Connecticut below. Another common mark are the initials seen above S H M &Co. and for sterling the S in a shield with a helmet.