Cliff Nunn - Antique Silver and Decorative Arts  
20211117-05   $22.50

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Offered is a lovely American coin silver cream or sauce ladle by Joseph Sewall Porter (1783-1862), working in Utica, NY circa 1803-62. This ladle probably dates to about 1820-35, by style. It has sugarloaf shoulders common to Utica silver, and a period engraved script monogram of "DB". It also has a rubbed but legible maker's mark and a later (but 19th Century) engraved date of 1806 to the reverse. This piece measures about 5 3/4 inches in length and weighs about 19 grams. It is in very... Click for details

Cliff Nunn - Antique Silver and Decorative Arts  
20211117-04   $14.00

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Offered is a beat-up late 18th or early 19th Century American coin silver teaspoon by noted Philadelphia silversmith Joseph Lownes (1758-1820). This piece has a rubbed but legible maker's mark and a worn period engraved script monogram. It measures about 5 5/16 inches in length and weighs about 13 grams. Condition is fair at best, with some dings and tip wear, and a fair amount of surface wear. There are no splits or repairs noted. I'd rather not see it scrapped, and it could still serve... Click for details

Cliff Nunn - Antique Silver and Decorative Arts  
20210117-02   $45.00

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Offered is a good American coin silver teaspoon by Newark, New Jersey silversmiths George R. Downing and and Silas Phelps, working as Downing & Phelps circa 1810-15. This spoon has a very clear maker's mark and a nicely struck city mark for Newark. It also has a period engraved script monogram. This teaspoon measures about 6 inches in length and weighs about 16 grams. Condition is very good overall, with modest tip and surface wear but no dents, splits or repairs. All in all a lovely... Click for details

Old Friends  
4474f   This item is currently being auctioned

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Large scale, this all silver item measures 7 3/4" long and weighs 3.0 T. oz.

Ice tongs (which could readily be used for salad), they have a 1 1/2" diameter embossed bowl with scalloped edges at the end of one arm, and a cut leaf shaped grip on the other.

The arch is wide, 1" across, and reinforced for strength, and without a monogram or inscription.

The pattern is "Dresden," dating from the late 19th century. It incorporates an array of raised, finely rendered, perhaps forget-me-not or... Click for details

Old Friends  
4473f   $225.00

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Standing 4 1/2" tall overall on a splayed, 2 1/2" high, pedestal foot that is 3" across on the bottom, and with a bowl measuring 4 1/2" across, this solid silver footed bowl or small compote weighs 7.2 T. oz.

Designed and executed in an Arts & Crafts manner, and likely dating from the early 20th century, it appears to be hand formed, showing, for example, distinct hammering marks on the underside of the foot that carry through very subtly to the exterior surface.

The bowl, which somewhat... Click for details

Old Friends  
4463f   $48.00

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This 7 1/2" long, 1.2 T. oz., master butter, sometimes identified as a fish, knife was made by Wood & Hughes, whose "WwH" emblem, "Sterling," "Patent," "1868," and the name of the retailer, "W.M. Savage," Columbus, Ohio, appear on the blade backside.

The pattern is unnamed, but is essentially an unembellished version of the company's 1875 Renaissance Revival "Angelo," with an engraved script "H.B.L." monogram in the place where the Moorish detail of "Angelo" otherwise appears.

Solid... Click for details

Old Friends  
4455f   $85.00

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A relatively large item, this gravy ladle measures 7" long, has a 2 1/2" by 2" by 3/4" deep, oval bowl, and weighs just under 2.3 T. oz.

Fashioned in an Arts & Crafts manner, it was produced by Arthur Stone whose "Stone and hammer - Sterling" symbol, along with a benchman's "B" for Charles W. Brown, or possibly George Blanchard, appears on the handle reverse.

The angular "Coffin End" handle was one of Stone's early designs, first issued in 1910.

A plain piece, i.e. never monogrammed or... Click for details

Old Friends  
4453f   $42.00

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A popular 1850s design, the leaf form on this 8 5/8" long, 1.9 T. oz., coin silver spoon was made by several makers with slight variation, including William Gale & Son who produced this piece, Gorham whose pattern was named "Josephine," and Henry Hebbard.

The leaf appears on the handle end front and back sides, in elaborated manner on the reverse heel of the bowl, and in smaller stylized form on the front join with the bowl.

There is an anthemion-like detail on both sides of the handle tip... Click for details

Old Friends  
4445f   On Hold

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Born in 1785 in Albany, New York, sources indicate that Thomas H. Carson was working as a silversmith in that city in 1810 and in partnership there with Green Hall 1814-19.

This lengthy, 8 7/8" long, 1.9 T. oz., serving spoon is stamped with the "C&H" mark indicating that partnership.

The form is consistent with the period. The handle is plain front with a rounded end and a midrib on the backside and a plain drop on the heel of the bowl.

There is a large, double lined, feathered script... Click for details

Old Friends  
4444f   $46.00

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A 7 1/8" long, just over .9 T. oz., this item is emblematic of its c. 1880 period.

Marked only "Sterling" and "27" on the otherwise plain backside, the maker is unidentified and neither the shape of the blade and handle, nor the particular engraving is definitive as they are singular.

Decidedly "Aesthetic," i.e. "Eastlake," in mode, the bright cut and wriggle work engraving portrays ferns, grasses, flowers, along with non-representational detailing.

A pickle knife that could double as a... Click for details

Old Friends  
4439f   $315.00

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Inspired by English and European antecedents, porringers were a favored form long produced by American silver and pewter manufacturers.

Consequently there is an ample inventory available in the antique and resale environment, with many offerings largely undistinguished, quite in contrast to this exceptional, solid silver item made by R. Blackinton & Co.

Large, the round bowl has a diameter of 4 7/8", a maximum span of 6 7/8" to the end of the "Chippendale" style handle, stands 1 5/8" high... Click for details

Cliff Nunn - Antique Silver and Decorative Arts  
20201205-01   $75.00

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Offered is a lovely American coin silver sauce or cream ladle by noted Jewish silversmith and jeweler Joseph G. Joseph of Cincinnati, working circa 1834-44. This piece has a legible maker's mark and an engraved period script monogram. This piece measures about 6 5/16 inches in length and weighs about 26 grams. Condition is fair overall, with some small dents and surface wear and weathering, but no splits or repairs. Please review all pictures. All in all a desirable example of the form and... Click for details

Old Friends  
4403f   $85.00

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An 8 1/2" long, 1.8 T. oz., large berry or other serving spoon, this piece is marked "W.P. Jones," along with "Sterling," for William P. Jones, Newburyport, Massachusetts, who formed a partnership with Anthony F. Towle in a firm that eventually became A.F. Towle Silversmiths, then Lunt.

It has a twisted stem and flat, rounded end, handle. This and the generously proportioned, 3 1/4" by 2 1/4", bowl are bright cut engraved in the Aesthetic taste. It likely dates from the mid 1870s.

The... Click for details

Old Friends  
4402f   This item is currently being auctioned

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A matched set, this c. 1835, coin silver, 6 5/8" long, likely pickle, fork and 7 1/2" knife, 2.8 T. oz. combined weight, are marked "S. Richard" for the New York City silversmith Stephen Richard.

The handles are filled (which is included in the total weight above), and feature a complex, double-sided, pattern that incorporates leaves, scrolls, flowerets, and two kinds of shells, one that is spiraled and one that appears to be a nautilus.

The pattern may be attributable to Richard's... Click for details

Old Friends  
4400f   On Hold

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A matched set, each of these four place, aka dessert or soup, spoons measures 7 1/8" long, with the group weighing 5.0 T. oz.

They are all stamped "Duhme & Co.," for the Cincinnati manufacturer and jeweler, and all have the same feathered "TGM" monogram inscribed sideways on their handle.

The pattern is "No. 1," introduced in 1869.

These have twisted stems with flat, oval, ends, which are engraved with wriggle work borders as well as leaf and other period detailing."

An online... Click for details

Old Friends  
4397f   On Hold

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Very early examples of San Francisco marked flatware, this set of six, matched, 8 3/8" long, 10.9 T. oz. the lot, coin silver spoons date circa 1860.

They are stamped on backsides "G.C. Shreve & Co., which firm according to an entry in Dorothy Rainwater's Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers, was established in 1852.

It eventually became the West Coast's premier jeweler and silver manufacturer.

In its early years, however, as noted by Rainwater, flatware was sourced from... Click for details