How Much is my Silver Worth?

So in all likelihood you got here searching for information on some silver. I do the history of silver and appraise in person. I do not appraise online. Value is hard to determine, but I have a friend who is developing his skills online and developing an online (free) appraisal service. If you want a value check out his site and ask him for advice:

http://www.thenakedappraiser.com/

If you live in Oklahoma send me an email

redavis001 (at) gmail.com

Rogers and Brothers Cup

Catalog number: 132

E. G. Webster & Son Coffee Pot

This little fellow got purchased a couple of weeks ago. I picked it up from a dealer friend of mine at a low cost who just hours before had picked it up from another dealer friend of mine for about nine dollars less. Had I not been so lazy that morning it could have been mine at a lower price but not to despair, early bird and all that. I really like the wooden handle, and the lid is in good shape, the silver inside is intact, the shape just does not do it for me. 

The weather was unseasonably warm today so you get an outside picture. This pot is part of the famous E.G. Webster reproduction lines and has a very classical english styling about it. I covered a brief history of E.G. Webster & Son in this post so there is no need to reproduce it here. I really like this maker and have seen many of their works. It is easy to identify through the use of their trademark spider web with a W. Though this is only one of their many marks, I think it is one of their best and just the detail of it is a joy to behold. 

Without reference books at hand to identify this mark I imagine that searching it out is a pain on the internet. I think I would go with the terms W, Star, Web, Silver but that could turn up any amount of things. Pictorial marks are some of the hardest to identify. Though, like with Webster, once you know what it is it becomes immediately recognizable to the collector. 

So what will become of this little fellow? Well I am stocked up on pots like this and it is not in the garish Victorian style I like so much so he is destined to be a Christmas present. The person i have in mind will give him a very good home.  There is a little damage to his foot where he was likely set on a ht stove or burner, but i don't think that this will matter too much. Sometimes imperfect silver is some of the most interesting. 

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.

Reed & Barton Cashmere 1889

Sometimes I get a piece of silver and put it to use. This happens most
often to serving-ware. Yesterday I was making a pizza for dinner and
grabbed a ladle to scoop and spread some tomato sauce. The ladle was
marked Reed & Barton but I did not recognize the pattern. Turns out it
is Cashmere from 1889. What a great way to spread pizza sauce.

Nickel Silver, German Silver, Alpacca, Panama Silver, Brazil Silver, Raydium Silver, Aztec Silvor

Sometimes you find a piece of flatware and it is marked as nickel silver, German Silver, Brazil Silver, Alaska Silver, Panama Silver, or Alpacca. I have one piece marked Raydium Silver, it seems really rare. I am going to be blunt with you here, these are not silver. They may be silver in colour but they are not silver. They do not contain silver. They are not the chemical Ag.  They can only be alone or plated with silver.

These pieces are white metal. They can be plated with silver but they are not silver from Brazil, Panama, or Germany.  I cant stress this enough because I see pieces all the time sold as silver from Brazil etc.  They usually contain a proprietary compound of Nickel, Tin, Copper and Zinc. They may contain all or parts of the above list. Each company developed their own formula that fit their needs and cost. This may have changed over time and as the cost of the materials rose and fell.

Now if you have a piece that reads Electro Plate Nickel Silver or EPNS then you have silver plate. This is a thin layer of silver deposited in a chemical reaction on top of the nickel silver, white metal or britannia.

So its not silver is it worth anything?
Yes, Many companies such as Rogers Brothers made flatware in both silverplate and nickel silver. The nickel silver flatware cost less and looked like silver so it was a popular seller. For the maker it was just stopping the production of the silverplate manufacturing process early so they could produce flatware more cheaply. That is they just skipped all the plating and polishing steps. It therefore has a historical value.

It does not have a major market. While many patterns are found in nickel silver and silverplate, it is collected less. This means if you wish to sell it it is going to be harder to find a buyer. However, a spoon in nickel silver and a spoon in sterling scoop ice cream to your lips just as well.  So it has value as a useful object.

Besides in a world filled with cheap stamped stainless or worse steel, having a fork made in the 1900's even if it not "real" silver is still something most people could never dream of.

Top Knife is marked American Nickel Silver.
Second Knife if marked Solid Brazil Silver.
Top spoon is marked Raydium Silver.
Second Spoon is marked Brown & Bros. German Silver.
Fork is Marked W Nickel Silver 18.
Bottom Knife is marked Panama Silver.

Top Spoon is marked DS in a diamond Alpaca Silver.
Second spoon (damaged) is marked PatApldfor Panama, it appears to be nickel silver.
Third spoon is marked Aztec Silvor with an arrow.
Last spoon has no mark and is chrome plated steel.

Spoon is marked Wm. A. Rogers Nickel Silver.
Fork is marked Rogers Nickel Silver.

Guthrie Oklahoma slim pickins

 

This weekend I went with my partner to Guthrie Oklahoma. It was the original capital and the Victorian architecture is astounding. One of Guthrie's main draws are the number of antique stores there. Quite frankly I was underwhelmed. They were more like thrift stores than anything else. This was the only really interesting piece of holloware. It was in really bad condition and overpriced. I cannot remember the makers mark but I do remember that it was a double strike. Hall and Elton I think? What do you think it is? Judging from the style I would guess a coffeepot. In its day it must have been magnificent. There would have been feet of some kind on the bottom and turning it over revealed what was left of the weld where they had been ripped off.  Still, I had a good time wandering about and it was nice to get out of town for a few hours. 

One note to silver dealers, quit putting stickers, tape and whatnot on the silver. Can we say chemical reaction and plate loss?  One of the estate companies in town loves using masking tape on silver and I have see plate pulled off when it is removed. Ugh.

Antique Egyptian Pattern, E.H.H. Smith Silver Co., Everts

Not a whole lot of luck this weekend. I found a few pieces of flatware. The only piece I am really excited about is another Egyptian revival demitasse spoon.  The first Egyptian revival in the decorative arts lasted from about 1820-1850. A good forty years but silver pieces from this period are scarce enough, so finding pieces in the Egyptian revival style is a herculean (or should we say Osirisian) task. 

There was a second form of Egyptian revival in the decorative arts in the 1920’s after the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamen.  From time to time since then there has been an incorporation of Egyptian motifs in silver and silver plate.This is one such case.

These are my two demitasse spoons in the Egyptian revival style.  They are the Antique Egyptian or Scarab pattern patented in 1909. One is marked Everts and the other has no mark (which as we shall see is not too unusual)  They have scarab beetles on the end of the handle.  These were produced after the height of the first Egyptian revival.  So what do we know about this pattern?

Hagan (1990) list them as Wm. A. Rogers and another company listed simply as Smith in the year 1909 and notes that they are not a full line. Meaning that only select pieces were made in this pattern.  In this book they are called Antique Egyptian.

Bones and Fisher (1998) list them under E. H. H. Smith Silver Company in Bridgeport Connecticut. They claim that it was designed for the Café de L’Opera in New York.  Further they claim that they were often given out as a premium by jewelry stores.  An interesting note is that this line is also known as Scarab. While noted as not being a full line confirming Hagan (1990). Bones and Fisher note that there exist grape shears, nut cracks, butter picks, muddlers as well as dinner spoons, forks and knives. The line appears in their book as having the scarab and without. The end of the piece having a sun disc and papyrus scroll in some cases.

Davis and Deibel (1972) list Antique Egyptian under the E.H.H. Smith Silver Co. showing their marks as a (triangle) S (triangle) and xx S xx where the s is in a box. They have a reprint of an advertisement that confirms that the pattern was designed for the Café de L’Opera in New York.  It also shows knives, butter knives, nut picks etc.  However, all of the pieces shown have the scarab on the piece. Davis and Deibel list the pattern date as 1909 and mention that it can also be found backstamped as Wm. A. Rogers and Everts. Everts used the demitasse spoons as an advertising premium.

Similar pieces:

Rogers & Bros. had a pattern named Egyptian in 1879. Other hollowware makers incorporated various Egyptian themes into their work like sphinxes as finials and the like.  I have also seen papyrus scrolls as a form of decoration. 

A collector I know and admire greatly has a pair of sphinx candlesticks that I am quite jealous of.  Next time I visit his collection I will ask for a picture.