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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 20th/21st Century Silversmiths
 Old Newbury Crafters
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| Author | Topic: Old Newbury Crafters |
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asheland Posts: 935 |
posted 09-10-2005 11:20 PM
  
I just received a couple of spoons by ONC in the Windsor Shell pattern. The shell is gold plated. Can anyone tell me how they plate just the shell? Is it pure gold that is used? I must say, it looks very nice in person. asheland IP: Logged |
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FWG Posts: 845 |
posted 09-11-2005 06:05 PM
There are gold-plating solutions available in the trade (silver as well) that work by either immersion or painting on. Haven't used them, but I understand that the layer deposited using this method is pretty thin and thus not suitable for areas that get use or wear, like the bowl of a spoon. (I once got a fake sheriff's badge appearing to be made from a Mexican peso that turned into copper with just a little bit of polishing, and I'm sure it had been plated with this sort of solution -- fortunately I had not paid much for it! Back in the '80s there seemed to be a fair number of these around, at least in the Mid-Atlantic area.) In modern times, the most common technique for use such as a spoon is probably electroplating. The area to be plated can be controlled either by what part is immersed into the solution or by painting parts with a non-conductive material to prevent plating in those areas. A much thicker layer can be applied in this way. Gold leaf can also be hammered into a silver surface, but since gold leaf is a very expensive product this is not very practical. The classic technique of gilding, going back centuries, was to coat the surface to be gilded with an amalgam -- a metal solution -- of gold in mercury. The piece would then be heated and the mercury evaporated off, leaving the gold to fuse to the surface. This technique is highly unhealthy as it produces lots of mercury vapor to be inhaled. The expression "mad as a hatter" comes from the use of mercury salts in that trade; one imagines that gilders must have been at least equally mad.... In principle it is possible to dissolve a variety of gold alloys into mercury, so something other than pure gold would be possible. In practice I think it was usually a pretty pure gold that was used, as the purpose was to provide a (relatively) inert surface. Electroplating is generally pure gold, and gold leaf must be pure to be beaten so thin. IP: Logged |
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middletom Posts: 467 |
posted 09-12-2005 08:15 PM
The method used for the Windsor Shell gold was (and still is) to apply a photo-resist lacquer to the entire piece, with the exception of the shell. The lacquer is quite thick and coats the silver heavily, so to get it in around the details of the shell, we dilute it with thinner and carefully flow it in around the shell. Then the piece is electroplated. Following that, the lacquer is removed with thinner, and the fumes from that will make your head spin. We have another pattern, York by name, that has feather-edge engraving around the edge of the face of the handle. When we make York Gold, the lacquer is applied all over, then the engraver engraves the feather edge through the lacquer, the engraving is plated, and then the lacquer is removed. IP: Logged |
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asheland Posts: 935 |
posted 09-12-2005 09:28 PM
Hi, thanks for the replies! I would have never thought of it being done that way, very interesting. Is it pure gold used in the plating? These particular spoons have a retailer mark along with the ONC marks. I have always wondered, do you stamp the retailer marks on for the retailer, or do they do it? I actually have two pieces from ONC with different retailer marks. It seems alot of this silver has them. asheland IP: Logged |
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middletom Posts: 467 |
posted 09-13-2005 05:21 PM
Yes, I do believe the gold used is 24karat. We, over the years stamped many store stamps on our silver, a practice that I think came into use for us in the 1960s. Most of the stores we've stamped for over the years have gone by the wayside, and not all customers want a store stamp on their silver. We now only stamp for Gump's in San Francisco and Shreve, Crump and Low in Boston. I'm curious, what are the stamps on your pieces? IP: Logged |
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asheland Posts: 935 |
posted 09-13-2005 09:02 PM
Hi Middletom, The marks are for Spaulding & Co. and Neiman Marcus. Would I be able to date these pieces given the fact you don't mark for these stores anymore? I can't find much information on Spaulding & Company, which surprises me as alot of Gorham has this retailer's mark. The Neiman Marcus is neat because it's written just like their logo, not a standard font. I personally like the retailer marks. The spoons for Neiman Marcus were made by Roger Rowell. Is he still working there? I think I read somewhere that he was retired. asheland IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 09-14-2005 09:41 AM
Spaulding was a high-end retailer in Chicago, and you might even say the "Tiffany's" of Chicago, competing with C. D. Peacock. They were the exclusive retailer for Gorham's "Martele" line in Chicago, and sold a lot of Gorham otherwise as well. IP: Logged |
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middletom Posts: 467 |
posted 09-14-2005 05:24 PM
Thanks Ulysses, I couldn't recall where they were, off the top of my head. I don't recall ever stamping any work with the Spaulding stamp, though I may have. I remember most hearing about the store, so I'd date it anywhere from the early sixties to mid-seventies. The Nieman stamp was probably from the sixties into the late eighties. We've delt with them more recently, but they have proven to be so erratic that we stopped stamping items Nieman's in case they changed their minds and canceled the order. No dealings the past few years. Roger Rowell retired several years ago, has had some health problems, but continues to soldier on. IP: Logged |
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asheland Posts: 935 |
posted 09-14-2005 08:28 PM
I have seen Martele with the Spaulding mark (online) and liked having it on the ONC piece which has an Arts & Crafts look anyway. Exactly how many smiths are currently working at Old Newbury Crafters? Does anyone know if Spaulding & Co. is still in business? asheland IP: Logged |
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middletom Posts: 467 |
posted 09-15-2005 05:04 PM
I beleive Spalding is gone, though I'm not certain. There are two flatware smiths working at ONC, and I'm the younger of the two. I don't know what the owner has planned, other than our eventual demise, but I sincerely would like to pass this skill on to someone else. I don't relish being the last of my kind, especially as such a happening is not necessary. We are a tiny part of the owners vast empire, and we are rather like a trinket that someone might buy and put on a shelf to just gather dust. One day, he may check on us and find we've all passed away, and he will be surprised that he no longer has a company, just some scrap iron. IP: Logged |
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asheland Posts: 935 |
posted 09-15-2005 09:56 PM
I hate to hear that, I did not know there was only two of you. I hope you get some new silversmiths in there. I am curious, I read you guys actually make Gold flatware. Is there much demand for that? Does it work similar to silver? asheland IP: Logged |
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middletom Posts: 467 |
posted 09-16-2005 05:06 PM
We have done some gold flatware in the past, both 18K and 14K. We have for display a placesetting, luncheon size, in our Moulton pattern that was made about twenty years ago by Bob Lapham. That was in 14K. He found that though the metal seemed to harden as it was hammered, annealing it in the way we do sterling did not soften it. However, he was able to continue hammering the pieces without there being any signs of stress in the metal. Whether it actually had been annealed, though not feeling as though it had been, or whether it was simply much more maleable than silver, he was not able to determine. We had no information at all about just how to treat 14K. In the seventies, Bob also made a special order of twelve demittase spoons for Salvidor Dali, in 18K. Last year I made a baby spoon in 18K. It seemed to hammer much like sterling, but, again, the annealing attempt didn't seem to have an effect, so essentially I hammered the piece all the way out without any signs of stress. That is all that we have done, but we do make the offer that we will make any of our items in gold as well as silver. IP: Logged |
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asheland Posts: 935 |
posted 09-16-2005 09:50 PM
What pattern was the baby spoon you made in 18K? I imagine it must have been very pretty in 18K. I would imagine Gold would not be much of a seller going by the prices. Does the 14K place setting in the display ever tarnish? I know gold does not tarnish, but 14K, with so much alloy included, I have heard that it can. I would not expect the 18k to tarnish. asheland IP: Logged |
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middletom Posts: 467 |
posted 09-18-2005 07:21 PM
The baby spoon I mase was in the Moulton pattern and it was pretty, though I will confess at this time that I prefer the look of silver for utensiles. Perhaps just a prejudice. The 14K set does not tarnish, just dulls a bit if handled a lot. In entering the field of gold work we found what I'm sure many of you know, that there are several alloys of gold and four or more colors of gold. We specified yellow gold, but whether that color helps with tarnish resistance, I don't know. IP: Logged |
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