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Reed & Barton Medallion Basket

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Author	Topic: Reed & Barton Medallion Basket
chase33 Posts: 362 Registered: Feb 2008	posted 08-19-2012 12:44 PM Hey Everyone, I just purchased a Reed & Barton Medallion silver plated fruit basket and am looking for a little information and suggestions. It is about 11 X 8 inches and is approx. 11 inches to the top of the handle. marked on the bottom "Mfg. & Plated by Reed & Barton 2210 Design PAT. JAN. 5 1889". I have tried using the USPTO website to find the patent but no luck. I narrowed it down to the entries for Jan 1889 but there were over 1800. Can anyone help me find this patent, please? Also, how should I clean it? I haven’t had a silver plated piece this old and don’t want to do more harm than good. The silver plate looks pretty good but I’ll know more when I clean it. One final thing: what style is this? I am having a hard time remembering the name. Thanks Robert IP: Logged
chase33 Posts: 362 Registered: Feb 2008	posted 08-19-2012 05:47 PM Thanks Scott IP: Logged
dragonflywink Posts: 993 Registered: Dec 2002	posted 08-20-2012 03:47 AM Nice - I like the hooves and the Greyhound. By style, suspected it was earlier than 1889 (is 'Aesthetic' the term you're looking for?). A quick online calendar check showed that Jan. 5, 1869 was a Tuesday, and all U.S. Patents and Trademarks were/are issued on Tuesdays (Jan. 5, 1889 was a Saturday). There were only 30 design patents issued on that date, only 9 of those were Class D7 (items for preparation or service of food or drink) - and here's your patent: ~Cheryl IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 08-20-2012 10:26 AM William Parkin IP: Logged
chase33 Posts: 362 Registered: Feb 2008	posted 08-20-2012 11:05 AM Thanks Cheryl Yes 'Aesthetic' is the word I was looking for but couldn't think of. And no wonder that I couldn't find the patent, I was 20 years off! Thanks for the tip about Tuesdays and about D7 being the class to look for, those class codes always have me confused. I keep hoping the USPTO will one day make all of the patents searchable by full-text and not just those from 1976 onwards. I really appreciate your help. Now does anyone have any cleaning tips or should I just clean it like I would a sterling piece? IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 08-20-2012 11:56 AM Try Google patent search -- using "reed and barton" cake the patent comes up as the second listing. It is not always accurate -- Google's OCR texts are not very good. IP: Logged
dragonflywink Posts: 993 Registered: Dec 2002	posted 08-20-2012 01:25 PM Should have mentioned, I always try google patents first, but it didn't come up for me when I tried earlier - a very handy search engine, but it can be a bit idiosyncratic (especially the last few months, they seem to be making some changes.....) ~Cheryl IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 08-20-2012 02:42 PM Like I said, it can be a real crap shoot. On the other hand, I almost always come across some thing else to distract me. In this case the other listings were a couple of the 15 plus design patents issued to George Gill and assigned to R & B. Now I just have to figure out who the heck he was. IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 08-20-2012 06:26 PM Nice find Cheryl - you should be a patent searcher. Very attractive basket Robert. The patent description calls it a Tazza for holding cakes, but I think of these as cake baskets. Is their any set pattern for what a bride's basket should look like? Or can any basket be called that if it is given to a bride? IP: Logged
chase33 Posts: 362 Registered: Feb 2008	posted 08-26-2012 06:16 PM Hey guys, someone needs to stop me! Just kidding. I don't normally collect silverplate but after the basket I talked about before, I now have another great piece. Earlier this week, I got a call from a friend who had asked if I wanted to purchase a silverplate fruit basket. The price was really low so I said yes without even seeing it. When I picked it up, I fell in love with it. It is so much better than I was expecting. It is by Meriden Britannia, Quadruple plated, with the original glass bowl. It is 11 1/4" high by 8 3/4" wide. The mark on the bottom includes the style number but I think someone at the factory made a mistake and corrected it by scratching out the last number (an 8) and "etching" in the correct one (a 7). Since I don't have any experience with silverplate and there isn't a patent number, can anyone help with the date or other info on this piece? Thanks for everyones help on the R&B basket (or should I say Tazza?) and for any info on my new piece. BTW, I am off to polish up both pieces and will post new photos when I am done. Robert IP: Logged
Polly Posts: 1970 Registered: Nov 2004	posted 08-28-2012 05:57 PM Very handsome! I love that it has its original glass. IP: Logged
dragonflywink Posts: 993 Registered: Dec 2002	posted 09-01-2012 01:40 AM I like it too - with those long tubular legs coming out of the lobed connections, has a sort of gadgetry 'steam punk' look to it (been playing with making some beaded critters along those lines, so might just be my current perception). An 1883 Meriden catalog shows a caster with the same base, and a different type fruit stand with the same bowl: ~Cheryl IP: Logged

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