posted 11-17-2003 10:41 PM            

Hello all,

This is a simple tablespoon in Oneida's Community DEAUVILLE pattern. Has anyone seen a mark like this before? I have to believe that the "2nd" mark denotes a factory second, but this is the first I have seen. I know that in days past, before the outlet mall phenomenon, potteries and glass factories would sell factory seconds at stores attached to the factory, in "outlet centers" like Reading, PA, or even on the side of the road. Does anyone know if this was practiced in the the silverplate business?

posted 11-19-2003 12:25 PM            

Also I have always regarded Oneida as having the strictest quality control of the silverplate makers. There are far fewer defective Oneida pieces floating around than 1847 or Reed & Barton. Other than the persistent failure to have tines of equal length, Oneida did a very good job on keeping quality failures off the market.

Thinking about it, the most common failing of the process is improper cleaning. This causes the silver to not adhere, resulting in bubbles. Does the piece have this? The pattern is crisp and clear, so it is not a stamping error. Nice mystery.

The only second mark I am familiar with in plate is the use of an arrow over the mark on 1847 Rogers pieces. Clayne Crousen regarded this as indicitive of a second, but I am not sure. The arrows show signs of hanving been hand impressed, they vary a great deal. Arrows are seen most often on 1878 Newport and 1884 Arcadian. Newport was made for almost 40 years, and ended its career as an inexpensive mail order pattern. Arcadian was discontinued after a few years. But certain servers seem to have continued on as gift items for much longer. And these are the items most likely to have arrows. The cheese scoop in Arcadian is a fairly common item, far more so than place pieces.