On Hold
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...
$55.00
The pattern is Douvaine, issued in 1904. Douvaine may be the most recognizable of the numerous early 20th century Art Nouveau flatware patterns Unger generated and for which the firm is renowned...
$145.00
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...
$285.00
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...
$65.00
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...
$365.00
Baluster form, it has a beaded base with smaller beading encircling the top rim...
$38.00
It is marked "Benedict & Scudder" over "New York," a partnership dating 1828-36, with Andrew Comstock Benedict, who also worked independently, the more prominent and lasting name in silversmithing of the two.
The end of the handle features a raised Basket of Flowers...
Auction
Sugar tongs, they measure 5" long, and at 1.7 T. oz., are exceptionally heavy for their size.
Stamped "S...
$70.00
$235.00
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 Frenc...
$36.00
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...
$115.00
This exa...
A table serving spoon, it is marked "Coin" and "Twambley & Cleaves" for the Biddeford, Maine, jeweler and silver retailer.
The handle is a Pointed Antique with a Tipt end. The surface is finely bright cut engraved in a period acanthus leaf design with a reserve area that is inscribed with a cursive "H" monogram.
The backside is plain save for the marks.
As noted, this is a quality item produ...
$20.00
It is marked "S. Ayers Elmira" for Socrates Ayers born in 1814. He worked in Elmira as a silversmith, watchmaker and jeweler until about 1877.
It is also stamped with a "star D star," which mark John McGrew in his Manufacturer's Marks on American Coin Silver attributes to an "Unidentified - Up-State New York" maker.
The handle is engraved "Ruth Burnham" in script lettering set sideways...
$75.00
The design is characterized by a die struck leaf, scroll, and anthemion that appear on the handle obverse, minus the leaf on the backside, and an expanded leaf on the reverse heel.
This has a fancy, feathered script, "AP Borden" en...
$52.00
It is stamped "Coin" for the silver standard, and "Vautrot & Ackly" for the 1866-c. 1875, Warren, Ohio, partnership.
The (Fiddle) Tipt pattern predates this period, so this may have been older inventory carried forward from Vautrot's earlier working years, beginning in 1849.
It is engraved "Laura." in script set sideways on the handle fron...
On Hold
This 7 1/4" long, 1.1 T. oz., place, aka dessert or oval soup, spoon, is marked "W.L. & H.E. Pitkin," for the partnership between William Leonard and Horace Edward, 1863-94. Given this is also stamped "Coin," it traces to the earliest years of the pairing.
The pattern is undocumented, but is in the manner of a Cottag...
$225.00
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 wi...