Interesting Gorham Mark - SMP Silver Salon Forums

SM Publications

Silver Salon Forums - The premier site for discussing Silver.

SMP | Silver Salon Forums | SSF - Guidelines | SSF - FAQ | Silver Sales

The Silver Salon Forums
Since 1993
Over 11,793 threads & 64,769 posts !!
American Sterling Silver Forum

Silver Salon internal search
or

How to Post Photos

REGISTER (click here)

SMP Silver Salon Forums
tline

American Sterling Silver
tline3

Interesting Gorham Mark

profile | register | preferences | faq | search

SSFFriend: Email This Page to Someone!

next newest topic | next oldest topic

Author	Topic: Interesting Gorham Mark
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-21-2008 07:30 PM Here's a beautiful Gorham plate, one of a set of ten. On the back is GORHAM MFG. CO., the word STERLING, and this mark. It looks a bit like the Whiting lion without the W in the shield. Any other possibilities come to mind? IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-21-2008 07:31 PM I should have added that each one is just shy of 7" in diameter. IP: Logged
dragonflywink Posts: 993 Registered: Dec 2002	posted 09-21-2008 08:02 PM Odd, looks like a Redlich mark. ~Cheryl IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-21-2008 08:12 PM Certainly does, Cheryl. I wonder if Adolph Ludwig used this mark before he started Redlich. Perhaps he did contract work for Gorham (and Shiebler). Coincidentally, or not so, the Gorham marks (lion, anchor, G) are not present, just the name. All a bit odd, as you say. IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 09-22-2008 11:23 AM Gorham had several retail outlets where they sold pieces by other makers in addition to their own. This dish, by Redlich, appears to be such a piece. [This message has been edited by Richard Kurtzman (edited 09-23-2008).] IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-22-2008 12:08 PM Richard, do you know when Gorham had their retail stores? I should add, this Redlich mark is very, very small, less than 1/8" across. IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 09-23-2008 01:23 PM This piece would have to come from the NY store. Gorham had outlets in NYC, Chicago and SF. The Gorham retail store was in NYC. They also owned a large part of the Chicago retailer Spaulding & Co. Spaulding also had a store in Paris. Gorham opened an outlet in London and started making silver in England. IP: Logged
doc Posts: 728 Registered: Jul 2003	posted 09-24-2008 11:26 AM I have seen a reference to Gorham's New York store as having been open from about 1890 to 1920. IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-24-2008 04:38 PM I'm assuming it had to come from the New York store because Redlich was a NYC manufacturer...? IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-24-2008 04:47 PM Answered my own question: "in 1905 Gorham opened a retail outlet on Fifth Avenue in New York City that they had commissioned from renowned architect Stanford White..." collectics.com/education_gorham.html IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-24-2008 05:03 PM A bit more, from a very interesting article in the New York Times, Oct. 22, 2000: In 1903 both Gorham and Tiffany -- which had been on Union Square -- began work on new buildings on Fifth Avenue, Tiffany at the southeast corner of 37th Street and Gorham at the southwest corner of 36th. In September 1905 the two companies opened their new buildings within days of each other. Both were designed by Stanford White, but in very different modes. Tiffany's (which still stands) was rich and heavily modeled, patterned after the 16th-century Palazzo Grimani in Venice. The new Gorham Building was more restrained but just as elegant, following general sources of the Florentine renaissance. 'Compared to the Gorham Building, the Tiffany Building is by way of being frivolous,' Architectural Record said in 1907. Evelyn Nesbit Thaw, whose husband, Harry, shot and killed Stanford White, Nesbit's former lover, in 1906 in a jealous rage, purchased more than $2,000 in silver on credit in the same year and gave it away as presents. When Gorham sued her for payment in 1913, she said she had less than $250 to her name. Gorham moved out of its building in the early 1920's, to 576 Fifth Avenue, and was succeeded by Russek's, a women's clothing store. IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 09-25-2008 03:56 PM The Gorham Bldg. B'way & 19th St. built 1884. The Gorham Bldg. Fifth Ave. & 36th St. built 1904. The Tiffany Bldg. Fifth Ave. & 37th St. built 1904. IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-25-2008 04:13 PM Anyone have a picture of what it looks like now, just for comparison's sake? Or, if any of our NYC folks happens down 5th with a camera phone... IP: Logged
mdhavey Posts: 164 Registered: Dec 2003	posted 09-26-2008 12:32 AM A remarkable commentary on contemporary society's carelessness and lack of a sense of beauty or design: IP: Logged
Paul Lemieux Posts: 1792 Registered: Apr 2000	posted 02-15-2009 04:45 PM It's now behind some sort of scaffolding (hopefully just for cleaning not further renovations) and kind of hard to see but here is the Gorham Building on B'way & 19, built in 1884. Some of the cool original architectural elements are obviously missing, such as the tower at the top and the circular windows running up the corner. Then: Now: IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 08-09-2018 05:28 PM Tiffany interior 5th Ave. & 37th St NY NY c.1910 IP: Logged
vathek Posts: 966 Registered: Jun 99	posted 08-10-2018 08:30 AM These photos bear witness to the standing of silverware manufacture at a previous time in history. There is a sense of elegance and a place in society that is gone now. IP: Logged

All times are ET	next newest topic \| next oldest topic
Administrative Options: Close Topic \| Archive/Move \| Delete Topic
	Hop to:

Ultimate Bulletin Board 5.46a

^1. Public Silver Forums (open Free membership) - anyone with a valid e-mail address may register. Once you have received your Silver Salon Forum password, and then if you abide by the Silver Salon Forum Guidelines, you may start a thread or post a reply in the New Members' Forum. New Members who show a continued willingness to participate, to completely read and abide by the Guidelines will be allowed to post to the Member Public Forums.
Click here to Register for a Free password

^2. Private Silver Salon Forums (invitational or $ donation membership) - The Private Silver Salon Forums require registration and special authorization to view, search, start a thread or to post a reply. Special authorization can be obtained in one of several ways: by Invitation; Annual $ Donation; or via Special Limited Membership. For more details click here (under development).

^3. Administrative/Special Private Forums (special membership required) - These forums are reserved for special subjects or administrative discussion. These forums are not open to the public and require special authorization to view or post.

| Home | Order | The Guide to Evaluating Gold & Silver Objects | The Book of Silver