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Gorham mark mystery

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Author	Topic: Gorham mark mystery
seaduck Posts: 350 Registered: Dec 2006	posted 03-23-2016 11:59 AM I'm a little out of my element here, and hoping you can help with any thoughts on a Gorham piece. I've tried Carpenter and the usual online mark resources but seem to have struck out. I've attached a photo of the marks in question, sent to me by a curator friend. He hopes to pin down the date when the piece was made. It's a silverplate cocktail shaker presentation piece; the form dates to the 1920s, he says. The engraving suggests that it was given in 1936, but he's found some discrepancies that suggest it may have been given later to mark the earlier event. I can't find any marks that resemble the four in the cartouches. The form of the cartouches suggests 1960s, I believe -- except we know it's at least two or three decades older than that. Any clues would be most welcome! IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 03-23-2016 01:51 PM Does the item have any other marks ... perhaps the Gorham date mark? IP: Logged
seaduck Posts: 350 Registered: Dec 2006	posted 03-23-2016 09:35 PM I don't think so. I believe this image captures it all. IP: Logged
seaduck Posts: 350 Registered: Dec 2006	posted 03-24-2016 02:32 PM OK, now I feel like an idiot. As I just looked at this photo again at a different zoom level, I realized that the four characters in cartouches are highly stylized versions of EPNS. Some minor digging has revealed that Gorham did not issue date marks from 1934 --1940. (1933 and 1941 had marks.) The Y538 is a product code -- doing a search on that shows a number of cocktail shakers. I am still not sure what the 24 would mean. And I am curious about this mark for "Gorham" in the lozenge. I haven't found anything matching that and wonder if it might give a clue as to date. IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 03-24-2016 03:33 PM Rainwater shows this mark as well as others marks for silver plated items. No dates are shown for any of the marks. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 03-28-2016 03:56 PM Here is a collection of Gorham EP marks and date marks. I don't know if this will help but it might make for some interesting discussion. IP: Logged
seaduck Posts: 350 Registered: Dec 2006	posted 03-28-2016 09:10 PM Thanks to you both! Not sure it helps in this case, but it's interesting to see "Gorham" in an oblong from an earlier period. And interesting to see how much they messed around with their marks! From a pure graphic design POV, they were all over the place.......... IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 03-28-2016 10:43 PM I did not realize the Gorham used dates marks on both sterling and plate. An Internet search indicated that Gorham ceased using a date mark during 1933 and started again in 1941. The monogram date of 1936 for your friends silver may be close to the manufacturing date as it falls within this window. IP: Logged
seaduck Posts: 350 Registered: Dec 2006	posted 04-03-2016 01:07 PM Thanks, ahwt. Since I posted this, my curator friend has resolved the apparent discrepancies that sparked this question. Armed with this info, he is now comfy with this dating for his purposes. IP: Logged

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