Old Friends  
4110f   $65.00

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This 7" long place or dessert spoon stands apart on several counts, the first of which is its exceptionally heavy weight at marginally over 2.0 T. oz.

Secondly, marked "Tiffany & Co.," it traces to the early years of the firm when it operated solely as a retailer.

In this case the maker was Henry Hebbard, whose three part "star, H, anchor" pseudo hallmark appears on the handle backside.

Thirdly, it is to a coin silver standard, so stamped, which is unusual for Tiffany which prompted,... Click for details

Cliff Nunn - Antique Silver and Decorative Arts  
20200119-11   Sold

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Offered is a rare example of the mark of Boonville watchmaker and jeweler Jacob Friedrich Gmelich, whose biographical information appears below. Gmelich was also elected State Treasurer and then Lieutenant Governor of Missouri. This piece has a period engraved script monogram and is marked with the retailer's mark of J.F.GMELICH, as well as a PURE COIN mark. This spoon measures about 5 5/8 inches in length and weighs about 15 grams. Condition is fair overall, with some rippling and surface... Click for details

Cliff Nunn - Antique Silver and Decorative Arts  
20200119-07   Sold

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Offered is a very scarce example of the maker's mark of Washington, DC watchmaker and jeweler William F. D. Eichler, working in Georgetown in the 1850s and 1860s. Little is known about Eichler except that he was born in Hanover, Germany circa 1817, and that he married the widow of Christian Letmate, jeweler of DC, who died in 1853. This tablespoon has a rubbed but legible maker's mark, and a period engraved script monogram. This piece measures about 8 7/8 inches in length and weighs about 48... Click for details

Old Friends  
4109f   $65.00

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A 6 1/2" long piece, this cream ladle weighs just over .5 T. oz.

Dating circa 1840, it is marked "B&C" for the Hartford, Connecticut partnership of Edward Bolles and Lucius Childs.

It has a raised "Sheaf of Wheat" motif on the end of the rounded, down-turned, handle, and a long, slender shank with chamfered edges.

The 1 3/4" by 1 1/2" by 1/4" ovoid bowl has a line drop on the backside.

There is a script letter "EET" monogram set sideways on the handle.

In excellent condition, it... Click for details

Cliff Nunn - Antique Silver and Decorative Arts  
20200118-01   Sold

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Offered is a nice example of the mark of Isaac D. Custer, a St. Louis jeweler and watchmaker who seems to have originated in PA and flourished in St. Louis for only a few years. This piece incorporates the place name for St. Louis into the maker's mark, so it should date from his years there, circa 1848-51. This piece is also decorated with a period engraved script monogram. This spoon measures about 5 7/8 inches in length and weighs about 12 grams. Condition is fair at best, with a split to... Click for details

Old Friends  
4107f   $42.00

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All of these three matched spoons measure 5 7/8" long, have large, feathered script "MSF" monograms, and are marked "Storrs & Cooley Utica" for a partnership with dates 1831-39. The group weigh just over 1.5 T. oz.

They have "Fiddle" shaped handles with plain, rounded ends, and high, slight and chamfered, shoulders off the slender and slightly pointed bowls.

The backsides are plain with no drops on the bowls.

In very good condition, they are without polishing wear, bends, cracks, or... Click for details

Old Friends  
4100f   On Hold

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One of numerous English designs that American silversmiths adopted whole cloth, "Prince Albert" is a scroll and acanthus leaf pattern.

Made by any number of manufacturers, this particular pair of circa 1850 coin silver teaspoons measuring 5 7/8" long each and weighing 1.3 T. oz. combined, are marked "N.A. Freeman 289 B.way," and with a "lion, leopard, S, bust" pseudo hallmark that William McGrew in his work on marks attributes to the "Gilbert, Cunningham, Cooper complex."

They are... Click for details

Old Friends  
4080f   $38.00

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The engraved scrolling acanthus leaf design on this "Reverse Tipt" with thumb drop backside, 7" long, 1.3 T. oz., place or dessert spoon, was a common motif (with variants) used in Baltimore from the mid 19th century forward. It eventually became regularized in the "Mayflower" line pattern produced by Kirk-Stieff.

This piece was made by Andrew Elliott Warner, a prominent 19th century Baltimore silversmith, and is stamped with his name, along with the peculiar-to-Baltimore "11" ounce standard... Click for details

Cliff Nunn - Antique Silver and Decorative Arts  
20191123-02   $120.00

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Offered is an excellent example of late 18th Century American silver sugar tongs, in this case by noted Albany, New York silversmith Isaac Hutton. See my other listings for a 1780s example by Hutton in partnership with John Folsom. The tongs in this listing were made by Hutton probably during the period between 1790 and 1796 when he working alone in Albany. These tongs have great wrigglework decoration and an engraved period block letter set of owner's initials. One really unusual feature... Click for details

Old Friends  
4039f   $22.00

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Measuring 4" long and weighing 7 grams (just over .2 T. oz.), this master salt spoon features a pronounced "Fiddlet Tipt" handle, with high, pointed, shoulders off the shovel form bowl.

It is marked "J.T & E.M.E. Chicago," whom John McGrew in his Manufacturing Marks on American Coin Silver identifies as J.T. and E.M. Edwards, working 1852-64.

There is a finely engraved, script letter, "HPC" set sideways on the handle.

Essentially without wear, it remains well-shaped, free of... Click for details

Old Friends  
4028f   $65.00

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Relatively lengthy at 6", with slender, "Fiddle Tipt" handles in a style that is particular to Baltimore where they were made, this group of four, matching, teaspoons weigh 2.3 T. oz.

Each one is stamped "S. Kirk & Son" along with the standard mark "10.15," which is roughly equivalent to coin silver. This specific combination of marks was used 1846-61.

Each piece has a feathered script "EVE" monogram engraved on the front and an exposed thumb drop on the bowl reverse.

In exceptionally... Click for details

Gebelein  
5448   $70.00

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Fiddle, downturned handles, rounded fins, tipt. Length 8-3/4", weight 1.325 troy ounces each. The book NY State Silversmiths says he worked in Oswego NY in 1845,Danville NY in 1847,Painesville OH in 1850, and Milwaukee WI in 1858. The monogram is a script M.P. Allis (which might help identify Matson's location when he made the spoons). Overall and mark condition are excellent.

Old Friends  
4016f   $32.00

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A prominent name in New York City silver manufacturing for approximately four decades, William Gale, working alone and in several partnerships, produced some of that city's most impressive flat and hollow ware of its time.

This 8 1/2" long, 1.3 T. oz., place or table spoon, is an early example of his work and while showing the quality of craft for which Gale was known, is beguilingly simple compared to his later work.

The arced, "Reverse Tipt" handle is inscribed with a script "AJ"... Click for details

Old Friends  
4010f   $95.00

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Generally attributed to Michael Gibney, the patent for this 1862 eponymously named pattern was apparently issued to Francis H. Gibney. In either case, it has long been identified as a Whiting design.

This matched 6 5/16" long, .9 T. oz., youth knife and 6" long, .8 T. oz., spoon are coin silver and may predate the Whiting association (later production was made to a sterling standard).

Each piece is stamped "W. Kendrick" for the Louisville, Kentucky, jeweler, with the spoon additionally... Click for details

Old Friends  
3996f   This item is currently being auctioned

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Born in 1790 in Middletown, Connecticut where he apprenticed and then established himself as a working silversmith, George Kippen relocated to Bridgeport, Connecticut circa 1815, in which city he entered into several partnerships (as well as with George Hoyt in Albany, New York), dying there in 1847.

These six, 5 5/8" long, 2.9 T. oz. the group, "Sheaf of Wheat" pattern spoons all bear his individual mark, "G. Kippen."

This design is rarely found in such exquisite condition, absent... Click for details

Old Friends  
3989f   $26.00

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The Albany, New York partnership of Hall, Hewson & Brower has narrow dates spanning the few years either side of 1850, although the firm and the main principal, Walter S. Brower, have a history that encompassed most of the 19th century.

This 7 1/8" long, relatively weighty at 1.2 T. oz., coin silver place or dessert spoon is imprinted on the reverse with the firm's "HH&B" in a diamond along with an eagle mark.

A "Tipt" aka "Fiddle Tipt" design, it has an exposed drop on the bowl backside... Click for details