Catalog: Silver: Sterling

for having made it to the end of my little web page. We realize that time is the most valuable commodity, and thank you for having spent some of yours here. Hopefully it has been an enjoyable experience, and you will stop by again soon. We try to add fresh items frequently...

As pictured, top row: Four unmarked (save for French import mark) Chinese tags with brackets to hold various labels, 4/$125.00 2nd row: HOCK, SOLD (Dublin ça 1807, maker JT); MADEIRA, $95.00 (London, 1824, George Pearson?); KETCHUP, SOLD (London ça 1790, T. Phipps & E. Robinson); SOY, SOLD (London, 1797, maker I•H in oval); FISH SAUCE, SOLD (London, 1825, IR?) 3rd row: ANCHOVEY, SOLD (unmarked); two WHISKEY, $35.00 each (20th c.); SOY $165.00 (London ça...

An assortment of individual (and two master) salt spoons. Pictured here top to bottom: Whiting EMPIRE monogrammed "L.M." and engraved "Cincinatti" (reverse), SOLD; Durgin FAIRFAX monogram "C" 18.00; four Whiting LOUIS XV no monogram SOLD; Watson PLYMOUTH master salt three inches engraved "The Rocks" (For once I am without comment) $25.00; five Whiting IMPERIAL QUEEN monogram "D" $24 each...

Alas, so are we. After 26 years, the Boston Antique Coop II is closing its doors. This, as they say, is due to circumstances beyond our control. Along with my colleagues John, Lolly, Gerry, Françoise, Rosemary, Brian, and Jackie let me offer a heartfelt thanks to all the folks who helped make our shop a success. Will we open another retail location? There are no immediate plans, but stay tuned to this spot...

Top to bottom: Durgin IRIS, SOLD; D & H BLOSSOM, SOLD, D & H RENAISSANCE, SOLD; Durgin STRAWBERRY, SOLD; Durgin CHRYSANTHEMUM, $125.00 (sold), Whiting LILY, $125.00. All are in excellent condition. Average length five inches save for Lily, short but cute @4 3/8...

Thanks to all the folks who stopped by for a visit. Hopefully, we'll see you again, sometime...

no, not that kind of a cat box, but a snuff box with "trap door" opening and secret compartment, 2 1/4 by 1 7/8 by 1 inches, weight 2.27 oz. Troy, marked with Chinese ideograms only (please see 5th photo).

In terms of construction, this is, not alas a first rate object. The edges don't quite meet up flush, the hinge is on the exterior rather than integral, and there are also a few minor bits of waviness on the front and side panels...

(for lack of a better description we'll call it this) with finely detailed alternating satyr's heads and irises above an urn shaped vessel decorated with garlands of highly three-dimensional applied flowers, height 9 1/2 inches, weight 14.09 Troy ounces, monogrammed as shown, one extremely minor dent which will not show up in a photo but excellent overall condition.

Kerr, a famous Newark jewelry and silver manufacturer of the early twentieth century, was noted for excellence of design...

Philadelphia circa 1790, a fine, large and massive piece, length 14 inches, length of bowl five inches, weight 6.87 Troy ounces, marked JA struck twice in cut cornered rectangle. There is a minor fill at the edge of the bowl (please see fifth photo) and some scratches on reverse, but excellent overall condition.

This spoon is not monogrammed and does not appear ever to have been, which is most unusual for early American silver.

Let's take a moment to reflect upon why a dealer, or at least Yours Truly, chooses to add an item to inventory.

Over the years, I've examined many pieces of Martelé, and if you dear reader will forgive me for a bit of crudeness, most of them are "trashed." Specifically, the detail is severely worn away, leaving the beauty of the overall design still appreciable but no longer intact...

Paris circa 1920, no monogram, some extremely minor (and soft) dents but fine overall condition, no monogram, weight 82.6 Troy ounces, marked as shown in third and fourth photos.

This is a grand tea tray, fully two feet (exclusive of handles) by sixteen inches. I was tempted to include a foot, a baby or a small dog for scale, but judged the former to be in poor taste and could not furnish either of the latter. Buy it now, and watch the value increase as world order ceases to function!

craftsman Arthur Hartwell, height 3 1/4; diameter 7 1/4 inches, weight 14 Troy ounces, monogrammed on base as shown in fourth enlargement, some very minor scratches but excellent overall condition.

A similar example, held by the Art Institute of Chicago, is shown in Chickering, plate 52; page 111.

width 11 1/4; depth 6 inches, excellent original condition, no monogram, weight 23.4 Troy ounces (!), please see fifth enlargement for mark. The ink holder is a hand wrought gilt sterling (modern) replacement, which we think an improvement over the original which was glass.

A William C. Codman design, identical examples may be found in both the Jolie and Robert Shelton Collection, "Magnificent, Marvelous Martelé," pp. 498-9 and the MFA Boston, accession number 2001.804

Bored and in need of a new game? How about one that doesn't require a computer or, for that matter, electricity? Measuring 4 3/8 by 1 1/8 by 1 3/8 inches, this set will fit easily into your purse or briefcase, but at 31 oz. Troy (that's two pounds, two ounces in lay terms) it may weigh you down a bit. The case has some minor dents, as one might expect, from its occupants which are small and dense...

craftsman Clinton Ogilvie, diameter 6; height 2 1/4 inches, weight 8.33 Troy ounces, monogrammed as shown in second enlargement.

What sets this item apart from other examples which have recently been on the market is, simply stated, condition. Not only are the floral decorations crisp and untouched by polishing wear, but their gentle background of chasing marks remains (see third photo), creating an effect of kumatage, as if the decorations were suspended in a pool of rippling water...

length 11 3/8 inches, weight 6.67 Troy ounces, craftsman Charles w. Brown, no monogram. There are a few minor scratches on bowl and tines (ask us nicely and we'll gently hand polish these before shipping) as shown in the 2nd and 3rd enlargements, but the overall condition is excellent, no monogram...

retailed by Hardy & Hayes, length 7 3/8 inches, weight 15 Troy ounces, monogrammed "C", fine condition.

If pressed as to why you, dear reader, should buy these Iris fish forks as opposed to some others listed elsewhere on the interwebz, I'd have to say that ours are probably in better condition. If pressed even harder, I'd confess that these are also attractively priced.

with sea creatures and granulated "sand" decoration, length 6 1/4 inches, weight 1.73 Troy ounces, excellent original condition, no monogram.

One factor which ultimately contributed to the demise of his firm was that George Shiebler's best designs were difficult to execute and costly to produce. Not many of these forks were made, and the surviving examples vary in quality and condition...