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 Proof that dates can't be believed
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| Author | Topic: Proof that dates can't be believed |
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jag Posts: 24 |
posted 06-17-2011 01:55 AM
  
I only have one spoon that has a date engraved on it, so I figured I at least knew when that one was made. But strangely enough this is also the spoon that I can pin down the manufacture date more accurately than any of my others (thanks to Wev's reference materials). And the date doesn't match the manufacture date. Here's the spoon: And although its clearly dated 1808, the Cary Boynton & Woodward partnership only lasted from 1835 to 1837. So clearly the engraving must have been commemorating some past event. (And I just noticed that this is another example of a silversmith purposely mis-spelling his own name - Cary is really Isaac Carey, 1802-1867) IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 06-17-2011 11:11 AM
A silver anniversary, two years late? I've done that. As a note, I lately tracked down Philip Rose Woodford of the partnership -- he was born 30 September 1806 in Westbrook ME and was the 2nd great, great grandson of Paul's dad, Apollos Rivoire IP: Logged |
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bascall Posts: 1629 |
posted 06-17-2011 09:30 PM
There is a Philip R Woodford in Maine Death Records who died in Deering, Maine on 21 August 1880. Philip R Woodford is listed in census's and directories for Boston up to 1880 and not after that year. There are several Woodfords in Deering in 1880 and one of them, William who was born about 1806, was a comb maker like Philip. [This message has been edited by bascall (edited 06-17-2011).] IP: Logged |
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jag Posts: 24 |
posted 06-20-2011 05:31 PM
Oh THAT Paul! I didn't know who you meant until I clicked the link. I guess a silverworker can't get much better lineage than that. IP: Logged |
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Kimo Posts: 1627 |
posted 06-21-2011 05:31 PM
Dates engraved on silver seem to rarely reflect the date the piece of silver was actually made. More often they commemorate a date in the past, or they are applied to a piece of silver anywhere from one year after it was made to a great many years afterward since silver tends to get repurposed rather than discarded as the years go along. As such they are of limited use in trying to determine when a piece of silver was made. IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 06-29-2011 10:11 AM
The great fallacy of engraved dates! And yet they're always useful for some reason...I have a fork with my great-great-grandmother's name engraved on it. Someone later on (maybe her daughter in law in 1900?) carefully had the year of her marriage engraved under her name...and thus the date is probably accurate, but not original to the piece. But useful in terms of its history. Likewise, here at the Museum, we have a great tea and coffee service by Fletcher & Gardiner, with the monogram of the original couple for whom it was made. But a later inscription with an 1804 date on it ascribes it as a wedding gift...long before the partnership of F&G existed. So I'm figuring maybe a 10th anniversary gift...or just a purchase once the couple got settled (or inherited some major cash, since it's a massive set). I love it when dates mesh exactly with other dating clues (like my 1865 dated Gorham Medallion table spoon--because the pattern was new when my great-great-grandmother bought the flatware). But dates are always a fun part of the puzzle. IP: Logged |
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