Old Friends  
5457f   $135.00

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Often attributed to prominent 19th century silversmith James Watts, the particular "animal head over shield with star" mark found on this lengthy, 9 1/2", 2.4 T. oz., coin silver pie server belongs to James Butler. Both men worked in Philadelphia in the mid 19th century.

Catherine Hollan in her encyclopedic Philadelphia Silversmiths notes Butler was a partner with Watts for "only one year 1867, then successfully continued independently manufacturing silverware with engraved patterns... Click for details

Old Friends  
5412f   $35.00

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Measuring 6 5/8" long and weighing just over .5 T. oz., this mid 19th century spoon is marked "Coin" without any other identifiers. Given the style, it is likely New England or New York in origin.

A jelly or large sugar spoon, it has an engagingly naive quality about it.

The handle has a narrow stem, and flat, shaped, round, upturned end with a slight knob tip. The surface is engraved in a simple, but endearing, leaf and flower design. The flower appears to be a narcissus.... Click for details

Old Friends  
5403f   On Hold

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The name Gorham immediately evokes Jabez Gorham of Providence, Rhode Island, and the legendary firm he founded.

The same surname, however, appears in the history of 18th and 19th century silversmithing in New Haven, Connecticut.

This minor dynasty included Miles Gorham, his son by the same name, and his nephew John, whose "J. Gorham" mark is imprinted on this lengthy, 8 7/8", 1.5 T. oz. coin silver spoon.

Born in 1789, Flynt & Fales Heritage Foundation Collection of Silver notes... Click for details

Old Friends  
5398f   $65.00

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Born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he worked as a silversmith in the 1820s, and apparently with a short-lived presence on Nantucket Island, Masschusetts, William P. Stanton established himself in business in 1829 with his brother, Henry, in Rochester, New York.

This pair of 5 3/4" long, .9 T. oz., coin silver tongs are marked "W.P. & H. Perry" for that partnership.

Their plain, angular, fiddle shaped arms date them from early in the partnership, c. 1830. Perhaps they were an old style... Click for details

Old Friends  
5395f   $48.00

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One of William B. Durgin's earliest patterns, dating circa 1870, and commonly identified as Spray, this design features a bouquet of woodland flowers and grasses tied by a bow.

This motif appears in the top center of the handle, and is repeated on the lower front and backside heel of the join with the blade of this 6 3/4" long, 1.0 T. oz., master butter knife.

There is a script letter "R" monogram on the handle front.

The blade has a scalloped upper edge, upswept and pointed tip,... Click for details

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5384f   On Hold

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Relative large, this coin silver master butter knife measures 7 3/4" long and weighs a commensurately heavy 1.3 T. oz.

Elegantly designed, it has a lengthy, slender, handle that has high, double swell, chamfered fins off the blade. The end is fiddle shaped and features a raised shell motif.

The blade is somewhat short at 2 7/8" long and wide at 1 1/8". It has a blunt end and curved upper edge with a notch toward the tip.

It has an implied provenance in that the front of... Click for details

Old Friends  
5380f   $145.00

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This large, 9 1/8" long, just over 3.0 T. oz. (95 grams), berry scoop or shovel (sometimes identified as a cracker scoop) is a mid 19th century item with Philadelphia provenance. It is marked "J.E. Caldwell & Co." for the renowned manufacturer turned jeweler from that city.

Other marks include "coin" for the silver standard, and very small cartouche with the letters "ET," for which there is not an immediate explanation.

The form is very much of its period and place. The handle has a... Click for details

Old Friends  
5366f   $285.00

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One of Gorham's earliest full line patterns, Grecian was produced to a coin silver standard beginning in 1861 and then continued in sterling from 1868 onward.

This example is marked only "Patent 1861" and with Gorham's "lion, anchor, G" emblem absent a sterling designation, thus indicating it is coin.

It is also the largest iteration of a ladle in this line and is for soup. In keeping with mid 19th century practice for this sort of item, it measures a massive 14" long and weighs 6.1... Click for details

Old Friends  
5358f   $65.00

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This pair of coin silver tongs are generously sized at 6 1/4" long and weigh 1.2 T. oz.

Each arm is stamped "F. [for Foster] Tinkham," born in Middleboro, Massachusetts, in 1803, and documented working in New York City in 1840, the approximate date of this piece, as a jeweler and watchmaker. He had returned to Massachusetts by 1855.

The arms are Fiddle shaped, which is a style consistent with their period.

The grips are shell form, and the arch is engraved in a very elegant... Click for details

Old Friends  
5333f   This item is currently being auctioned

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This item traces to mid 19th Baltimore and reflects the character of early silver from that city.

Sugar tongs, they measure 5" long, and at 1.7 T. oz., are exceptionally heavy for their size.

Stamped "S. Kirk & Son" and "10.15" for the peculiar-to-Baltimore silver standard that is essentially equivalent to coin, each arm is chased in a high relief flower and leaf design that is akin to Kirk's holloware of the period, as illustrated, for example, in Maryland Silver published... Click for details

Old Friends  
5319f   $235.00

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Dating circa 1860, this 9 1/4" long, solid weight at 2.4 T. oz., pie server is an early example of California (coin) silver.

It is stamped on the handle backside, "Vanderslice & Co. S.F. Cal." for the firm established in 1858 which, as recounted in Silver in the Golden State, became "the longest lived of the nineteenth-century San Francisco manufacturing firms," suggesting that this piece, unlike much California silver of the period, was regionally produced.

The handle is a... Click for details

Old Friends  
5315f   $36.00

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Dating circa 1840, this 6 1/2" long, .7 T. oz., Tipt aka Fiddle Tipt spoon is stamped "F. Franks & Co." and "Dollars."

Lacking a certain attribution, Catherine Hollan in her Philadelphia Silversmiths writes, "The firm is unidentified, probably from New Hampshire or New England where "DOLLAR[S]" is used [although this term, designating a coin silver standard, is not exclusive to New England]."

She further notes, however, that Yale University Art Gallery has spoons [with... Click for details

Old Friends  
5301f   $115.00

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Founded in Providence, Rhode Island, by William B. Fessenden (who had a prior working history in Boston with various and New York City with Whiting) in 1858, the firm that bore his name was one of numerous silver manufacturers located in the Providence to North Attleboro, Massachusetts corridor, all anchored by Gorham. Given this concentration of industry, there was a body of skilled workers in the area available to Fessenden, which enabled it to produce quality items from its onset.

This... Click for details

Old Friends  
5257f   $225.00

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This 8 3/8" long, 2.0 T. oz., item is a superb example of mid 19th Boston silver work in terms of form, execution, and condition.

An Olive pattern, which was particularly popular in Boston in the period and produced with slight variation by several makers, it is marked "lion, F&H, bust," for manufacturer "Farrington & Hunnewell."

It is a hotcake, aka pancake or waffle, lifter.

Characteristic of the form, it has a 2 5/8" diameter, essentially round in this instance, flat server... Click for details

Old Friends  
5253f   $36.00

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Born in 1827 in Newburyport, Massachusetts, William P. Jones apprenticed with William Moulton IV of the renowned family of silversmiths, as did contemporary, Anthony Francis Towle.

The two men established a partnership, which through a series of transitions eventually became Lunt Silversmiths, thus there is a long silversmithing lineage represented in this 6 3/16" long, .5 T. oz., sugar, or possibly small jelly, spoon marked "W. P. Jones" and "Coin."

It dates 1847-57, the period when Jones... Click for details

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5195f   On Hold

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This preserve or jelly spoon measures 6 7/8" long and weighs 1.0 T. oz.

It is a mid 19th century, coin silver, piece in a French Thread aka Fiddle Thread pattern.

The 2 1/4" bowl is shell form with a scalloped and notched edge and high, rounded, shoulders at the join with the handle.

Never monogrammed, it is in excellent condition, absent polishing wear, free of dents, bends, or tears in the bowl, and with a pleasing patina. There are light surface scratches consistent... Click for details