posted 03-12-2010 12:14 PM            

Hi,

I am a research volunteer at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. A woman from South Carolina would like to donate this interesting fork to the new African American History and Culture Museum. This fork might be of interest to us if we can prove that it was made by an African or African descendent. Even if it is not the fork has garnered some excitement around the office and we would really love to learn more about it. This is my first time researching the history of an inanimate object. My previous experience is all with researching people of historical value. I have learned a lot about antiques and flatware while working on this fork but I am running out of ideas about where new to look for more info.

I am trying to find out more info about the maker of a silver plated fork. I came across this fork from a woman in South Carolina. She didn't know where it came from and it didn't match the rest of her collection.

The mark on the underside of the handle reads "AfricanC.C&Ssilverene". I have tried looking up American, British and African silver smiths but I can't find any marks that match it. The woman would like to donate the fork to the Smithsonian but no one seems to know what the fork is or where it came from.

I have contacted several silver experts and antique dealers in America, England and South Africa and no one has ever seen the "AfricanC.C&Ssilverene" mark before.

To make things even more confusing. Almost every person I have talked to has suggested a different silver maker as the creator of this fork.

I would really appreciate any help this forum can provide.

Pics of the fork

posted 03-12-2010 06:15 PM            

Something to think about - unless something has great historical importance such as once having been owned by a very famous person, most museums and especially the Smithsonian, rarely accept donations anymore. The reason is for every object they accept they must budget for the added responsibility of keeping it and conserving it forever. One object will not break them, but there are millions of people who have family heirlooms and many would like to donate them to the Smithsonian or other museums. The Smithsonian already has so many things that the large majority are never displayed, they are just kept in permanent long term storage at substantial cost to them. Other museums often just sell objects that are given to them unless they fill a particular need in their collection. This selling off of donated objects is called 'de-ascessioning'. Most museums do this routinely, but the Smithsonian is not allowed to so the Smithsonian has become extremely choosy as to what they will accept. You can always ask them if they would like to have it, but it is not a common thing for them to say yes.

posted 03-15-2010 01:11 PM            

I see what looks like an acid test revealing copper.

When do you suspect this fork was made?

I am pretty sure someone spread the tines just to make the fork seem more interesting.

posted 03-15-2010 01:22 PM            

My initial reaction to the tines was that maybe someone had recently bent them outward but in my research I have come across several antique forks that were made that way. They were usually cold meat forks, or sardine forks.

Also this fork is the same size as the average dinner fork.

posted 03-15-2010 02:11 PM            

If the Smithsonian is seriously interested in this spoon then they could have it properly X-ray spectrographly tested. The results with full trace elements could help to more accurately date things.

There are others in this forum who know type faces much better than I. To me, the type face of the mark looks relatively new.

What rationale are you using to come up with the "the mid to late 1800's" estimate?

posted 03-15-2010 06:20 PM            

Based on the equal spacing of the tines at the base as well as the unequal spacing at the tips, I would think the tines have been bent outward and are not original in that form.

CC&S could be the maker, but I do not know who (or where) that might be (there was a firm of Curtis, Candee & Stiles that made coin silver in the 1830's, but that is too early for this fork).

A Google search shows that Silverene is also the name of twin towers in Dubai, and there is a Hotel Silverene in Mumbai (India), Hotel silver is often marked with the hotel name, but the use of "African" argues against this possibility.

A variety of often exotic sounding names designed to make silver plated items sound more like solid silver have been used. My guess is that this is a late silver plated table fork dubbed "African Silverene" for such a purpose.

________________________________
(Edit)

There is also a (South) African Center for Carbon Capture & Storage (uses CCS, not CC&S) - if the "Center" has an actual brick and mortar building with a cafeteria, they might mark their silver), and an African Center for Chinese Studies in sub-Saharan Africa (also uses CCS).

Dale's suggestion (posted while I was composing this) also is a possibility to consider, and probably should be followed up

posted 03-15-2010 08:56 PM            

This page from the 1881 Reports of the General Assembly of Illinois - Inventory and Valuation of Property of the Illinois Eastern Hospital for the Insane, Kankakee, September 30, 1880, shows "6 Dozen silverene spoons":

An 1887 ad for a watch from Wm. Williams in Chicago offers, "...as a Leader, our New Genuine Solid Silverene Dust-Proof Watch.....warranted not to tarnish: 20 per cent silver...":

And it shows up on a list of Pure Metals and Alloys in a 1901 book, Practical Electrical Testing in Physics and Electrical Engineering:

~Cheryl

posted 03-15-2010 10:28 PM            

quote:

---

Watch case mfgs used terms like
Silverene
Silverode
German Silver
Mexican Silver

The silver markings mentioned above are all nickel metal not silver

---

quote:

---

Silverene is a paint used in boiler rooms for high temperature work on steam ships.

---

quote:

---

Dip Pen
Pneumatic No. 377, black with rubber contoured gripping section. Hunt No. 57 Silverene nib with very flexible fine point.

---

So (with these and Cheryl's finds) there is no doubt that silverene was and is an alloyed metal.

posted 03-16-2010 01:45 PM            

"African reformation: African initiated Christianity in the 20th ... - Google Books Result

page 82 and 83

posted 03-17-2010 10:14 AM            

I also agree that it does not appear to have been made by a silver smith and instead appears to be late 1800s or early 1900s factory made.

The markings are puzzling. The term silverene is not a common one, but it is not rare either. As Cheryl shows in her postings of old advertisements, it was a term that was loosely used for a range of metal wares and is often thought of as either a white metal alloy sometimes with a bit of silver, or I have also seen it used to refer to a stainless steel alloy. Making up marketing terms that incorporated the word silver either in a made up word like silverene or as part of a two word phrase such as German Silver or Alpaca Silver or similar phrases is simply to get people to think the object is made of silver when actually there is little if any silver in the alloy. It is possible that the marking could be another of these marketing tricks.

Another possibility of the marking is for it to be that of a company, hotel, restaurant, shipping or railroad corporation, etc. Many such entities purchased modest quality but heavy duty flatware and hollowware and put their name or marking on it. The purpose was two-fold: to show they were an organization of substance and to minimize pilfering since they could prove that these things were theirs. The generic term for such flatware and hollowware is 'hotel ware.' It is possible that the marking on the back could refer to such a company. For example, there was a British steam ship company in the late 1800s to early 1900s called the 'African Steam Ship Company.' They operated between England and the U.S. and Canada between the St. Lawrence and the southern U.S. It is possible this fork might be one of theirs or it could also have belonged to some hotel or restaurant by that name. The C.C.&S. appears to be either the name of the factory that manufactured the fork or it could equally be the name of the company that sold the fork. Retailers often added their markings to increase their sales.

I hope someone will be able to give an absolute confirmation on the exact meaning of the markings, but the chances are not great with things that are not solid silver since there has not been much study of such things and few old records were ever saved. The intense collector interest in solid silver or silver plate made by well known smiths and factories means that there is a fair amount known about these and their markings,but even with solid silver there is an amazing amount of information that has been lost or not yet found.

As you likely know all to well, old family stories about heirlooms need to be taken with very large grains of salt, and sometimes even whole salt cellars of salt. Most people retell the stories that have been handed down with things with complete honesty and conviction, but stories are always interpreted in each telling. It is like the old party game of 'telephone' where a story whispered into the ear of the person next to you and then they tell it to the person next to them and so on results in an end story told by the last peson in the line to the group that is quite different from the original one. In silver, as in any other antique, family stories can be a starting point but they all need what you are doing, impartial fact checking. I can not remember how many times I have been offered things that people have said with full conviction and honesty that had been made by Paul Revere or that had been owned by George Washington or someone famous only to be found to be something else once a bit of fact checking is done. In addition to markings, one must also consider the form, design, patina, feel, weight and other aspects. It is like evaluating a painting where the signature is one factor but you need to look at the painting itself to make a decision what it is. Also, solid tangible provenance is either helpful or necessary in some rarer objects.

posted 03-17-2010 02:36 PM            

Thanks for pulling everything together. It reads very well.