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 American Silver before sterling
 Warner Covered Butter
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| Author | Topic: Warner Covered Butter |
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mdhavey Posts: 164 |
posted 02-09-2005 12:28 PM
  
Here's an interesting piece American silver up for for comment. Andrew Elicott Warner made this classic Baltimore repousse piece, but is it possible to know when and whether by Junior or Senior? I've reproduced the mark at the end of this post. I've seen covered butters, almost all silver plate or pottery, usually made or sold in the South. What (I think) is unusual about this piece is the removable perforated tray. Has anyone seen this form before? I believe chips of ice were put under the tray to keep the butter from melting. Pretty handy for a hot, humid Baltimore summer. A curiosity is the mark under the name. It looks like "11 2" with the two a superscript numeral. I thought Baltimore silver had as an assay mark "11" which referred to 11 ounces of pure silver to one ounce of alloy. What does the 11 2 mean? IP: Logged |
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Silver Lyon Posts: 363 |
posted 02-09-2005 12:44 PM
The 11 2 mark indicates that the piece is Sterling (92.5% pure) silver - the 11 ounces 2 pennyweights (usually written: dwts) is expressed as a proportion of a TROY pound of 12 ounces. So Mr Warner is stating to those that understood the mark that his piece is of sterling fineness. I will leave the opining on which Warner to others whose knowledge is better!! IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 02-09-2005 12:47 PM
Andrew Senior (and this is his mark) used a variety of 'purity' marks -- 11, 11+15, 11+2 -- at various times. Someone better at math can work out the silver content for each. The form of the butter dish (which is very handsome, by the bye) is fairly common; the peirced tray over ice chips is actually quite efficient. IP: Logged |
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mdhavey Posts: 164 |
posted 02-09-2005 01:43 PM
Can we put an approximate date to the piece? The absence of Baltimore assay marks would suggest after 1837 I believe... IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 02-09-2005 02:40 PM
The use of quality marks was adopted after the cessation of assay marks around 1830, and continued until about 1855, by which time all Baltimore silversmiths discontinued this marking practice, except for Samuel Kirk and Andrew Ellicot Warner, who continued the practice past the Civil War - Kirk until the 1890's, according to Patrick Duggin ("Marks on Baltimore Silver" in "Silver in Maryland"). There is no way to date a piece within this period by these marks alone. IP: Logged |
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