Downturned fiddle handle with ornamental cut-outs at base of fiddle; pointed shoulders which extend over rim of bowl to create a decorative (and probably unique) design (see pic); cut-cornered (coffin-end) drop on bowl back; prominent rib on back of handle, feathered script mono B on front. Length is 12-1/2". Round bowl is 3-3/8" in diameter. Mark is T. CAIN. with Masonic pseudos. Condition is near-mint.

Forward-tipt fiddle handle, c1840 -- high sugarloaf shoulders, feathered script mono L C lightly engraved on reverse. Length is 8-1/4". Weight is a hefty 17.5 T oz. Some tinewear, otherwise condition is fine.

Baird is listed is Hollan's "Virginia Silversmiths." He began his career as a silversmith in 1802 in Petersburg, VA; by 1806 he was plying his trade in Natchez, MS, and from 1813-38 he was working in Kentucky -- Paris, Washington and then Maysville. This piece has an 18thC-style pointed-end handle, and an interesting and unusual squared drop on the bowl back; the handle has a reverse rib. The mono on front is a shaded feathered script D P B...

Pinched-waist fiddle handle, pointed shoulders, unusual broad drop on bowl back (see pic). Mono is W M H in shaded script lettering on front of handle. Length is 13-1/4" with 3-3/8" round bowl. Weight is 5 T oz. Condition is near mint.

This is a beautifully raised bird, wings akimbo, ready to take flight. Spoon was never engraved, probably never used at table. It is 5-5/8" long, and in minty condition, no wear at all.

A rare form for sugar tongs, the arms at a 90-degree angle with the bend. Dual wrigglework decorative lines on both sides of arms and around bend, the decorative work carried through on the spoon nips. Never engraved, 5-1/2" long. Excellent condition. Until recently, Merchant was said to have worked in NYC, c1795. Now, Hollan's tome on VA silversmiths clearly identifies him as working in Dumfries...

Early fiddle handle, c1815 -- slight pointed shoulders, drop on bowl back, feathered script mono M P on front; 9" in length. Weight is 2 T oz. each. Condition is excellent.

Pinched-waist fiddle handle, pointed shoulders, script mono on front; 8-1/8" in length. Condition is fine. Mitchell is not listed in any of the books dedicated to Missouri silver. However, the 1860 census lists George Mitchell, age 41, as a jeweller, with a wife and 2 sons. Further, spoons have been collected which show both Mitchell's mark and his home town of Hannibal. Probably by this time, Sam Clemens would have moved east.

Pinched-waist fiddle handle, c1850 -- pointed shoulders, feathered script mono S J L on front; 8-5/8" long, each weighs 50 grams. Condition of both is excellent.

Early downturned fiddle handles, no shoulders, prominent crescent drop on bowl back, feathered script mono M B C L on front. Length is 8-3/4". Weight is 3 T oz. 8 dwt. Condition is near-mint, extended bowl tips unworn.

Downturned fiddle handle, sugarloaf shoulders, feathered script mono E L on front; 12-7/8" in length. Overall condition is fine. Mark is I.WELCH, as listed in Hollan's "Virginia Silversmiths." Fincastle, then as now, is a small town a tad northwest of Roanoke.

Pattern is early, c1830, single-struck on one side only -- short fiddle handle, common in Kirk's fiddlethread work; mono is AAC in a feathered script; length is 7-5/8", weight is just under 4 Troy oz. total. Tinewear most notably on the right side, otherwise condition is excellent.