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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Sterling Silver
 JB & SM Knowles - sterling or coin?
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| Author | Topic: JB & SM Knowles - sterling or coin? |
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WGS Posts: 136 |
posted 12-06-1999 03:37 PM
  
I have a demitasse spoon with the mark of JB & SM Knowles. (At first I thought it was the mark of the Frank Smith Silver Co.) The spoon is marked sterling, but Rainwater 3rd ed. rev. relates the mark specifically to coin silver. Is it reasonable to assume that the mark might have been used on both coin and sterling? IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 12-07-1999 10:25 PM
It is certainly reasonable. Some manufacturers varied their trademarks for different materials, but others did not. Remember, not everything has been recorded, and often the best evidence we have of how various marks were used are the objects themselves. IP: Logged |
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Trefid Posts: 96 |
posted 12-31-1999 01:54 AM
According to Rainwater's 4th ed., J.B. & S.M. Knowles didn't form a partnership until 1875, well into the "sterling period." Of the 10 Knowles patterns I have, only QUEEN, suppposedly introduced in 1870 as a Knowles & Ladd pattern, is marked coin. I write "supposedly" because in an old book on St. Louis silversmiths I found a picture of it with its maker credited as Louis Bauman, working ca. 1850's to 1870. It's possible that Knowles & Ladd could have bought Bauman's die. IP: Logged |
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jersey Posts: 1203 |
posted 07-08-2006 08:24 PM
Query.......... Does anyone know if the Knowles pattern Argo would be considered Coin silver? It has the lion holding the letter K upright. I have a serving piece that has the mark that Rainwater has listed as belonging to "coin silver", however the piece is marked sterling. Thank you for listening. Happy Saturday! Jersey IP: Logged |
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FWG Posts: 845 |
posted 07-09-2006 10:00 AM
Personally I would consider it highly unlikely that Knowles' Argo was produced in coin. The design was patented in 1892, and I just never see those rococo 1890s patterns in coin. As suggested previously in this thread, the firm as such was formed at a time when most of the production would have been sterling rather than coin. I suspect that Rainwater's note (that the lion and K in shield mark was "on coin spoons") is either mistaken, or reflects an exceptional set made for a customer who specifically wanted coin, perhaps to match an older set. As Brent suggests above, the best evidence is often in the pieces themselves.... [This message has been edited by FWG (edited 07-09-2006).] IP: Logged |
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jersey Posts: 1203 |
posted 07-09-2006 12:37 PM
FWG! Thank you so much for your response. Your feelings about my piece are just about where I was also. I just needed confirmation. I would like to post a picture soon to determine exactly what the piece was used for.( I use it for whatever I need it to be). Thanks again. Jersey IP: Logged |
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