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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 Hotchkiss & Schreuder
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| Author | Topic: Hotchkiss & Schreuder |
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IJP Posts: 326 |
posted 01-13-2005 04:52 PM
  
I found a great article in Silver Magazine about the Syracuse silver manufacturers Hotchkiss & Schreuder (Jan/Feb 1991, so pull out your archives). It illustrates a number of their patterns and gives a brief history of the company and its predecessors or successors. Unfortunately, no information was given about any pattern resembling a particular piece in which I'm interested. This seems like a relatively small company, so I don't know how much luck, with my limited resources, I'll have seeking information about it. Is anyone familiar with the company, or does anyone know if, since the time of the above-mentioned article's publication, any more documents have come to light regarding Hotchkiss & Schreuder (especially the supposed trade catalog from which the article illustrations were taken, and of which apparently only portions could be found at the time)? This fish slice bears Hotchkiss & Schreuder marks dating it to 1857-1864 ("H" in a circle, "&" in a lozenge, "S" in a circle). IP: Logged |
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IJP Posts: 326 |
posted 01-25-2005 11:39 AM
Interestingly enough, I did discover a remarkably similar item in Soeffing's Silver Medallion Flatware book, page 56. If I'm not mistaken, at the time of the book's publication, the pertinent documents amid the Gorham Archives had not yet been found, so no name could be given to either of the two Hotchkiss & Schreuder patterns featured there. One of these pieces exhibits a handle-type nearly identical to that of this fish slice, the only appreciable difference being the engraving at the terminal. Have any of you seen other engraving variations of this handle-type? If there exist several variations, might these be considered simply versions of the same "pattern"? I know this is a fairly small company, but I'd love to know if any of you collectors have come across other variations of this type. IP: Logged |
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SilverRose Posts: 1 |
posted 01-25-2005 11:51 PM
IJP, What a beautiful fish slice. I have one that is very similar. Mine was made by Meadows & Co. of Phildalphia. It has the same twisted handle, but the engraving is different. My understand is that the twisted handle was very fashionable in the mid 1800's. While It may be possible to find a matched set of twisted handle pieces, it is my understanding that they were custom made in a time before they (Silversmiths) thought about pattern names. Another book that has great examples of mid 1800's silver is "Yesterday's Silver for Today's Table," by Richard Osterberg. The fisrt section of that book is devoted to silver of the 1850's to 1870's. Mr. Osterberg shows no prices for these items as he considers them quite rare. If you're trying to find a matching fork for your slice keep looking on eBay for "Hotchkiss & Schreuder" and "twist" or "twisted." Goodluck, IP: Logged |
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IJP Posts: 326 |
posted 01-31-2005 11:30 AM
I understand it's possible that this fish slice may not belong to what could be considered a full-line "pattern". However, I wouldn't altogether discount it just because of its age, as companies such as Dominick & Haff, Gorham, Kirk, and Whiting all have full-line patterns at least as old, some dating as early as the 1820's and '30's. The perennially popular Repousse by Kirk, for example, dates to 1828 according to the Jeweler's Circular Keystone. In posting this item, it was not my intention to find other examples of this type, but simply to see if there were other collectors who may have a more complete knowledge of the Hotchkiss & Schreuder firm in particular. The striking similarity between this piece and the one featured in Soeffing's Medallion book did get me wondering, though. IP: Logged |
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Trefid Posts: 96 |
posted 02-03-2005 09:09 PM
I've never seen an article which lists names of H&S patterns other than the ones which are in Turner. When I find an undocumented pattern, I name it so I can find it again. This one I called "HESSIAN" (for the sound of H&S) because they seem to have made a lot of this blank and a variation of it. And they did use this blank for their engraved medallion. IP: Logged |
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IJP Posts: 326 |
posted 02-04-2005 11:38 AM
Hi, Trefid. Yeah, that's very much like the medallion-type variation shown in Soeffing's "Silver Medallion Flatware" book. As for documentation of pattern names, I could find no such thing in Turner, only a mention of the firm in the postscript. In fact, I don't believe that anyone was able to confidently assign names to the H&S patterns until the aforementioned trade catalog turned up in the Gorham archives. But you are probably right in saying that this was simply a popular blank for engraving, and there may very well be innumerable variations of it in existence. IP: Logged |
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