Start off with this site: http://www.925-1000.com/ It will let you find silver marks, and know who made the pieces.

Also, try: http://www.silvercollecting.com/silvermarksM.html

And last, try www.silverqueen.com

Hope these links help. Good luck!

The Knowles piece is 'Argo', introduced in 1892.

The Whiting piece is 'Louis XV' of 1891; a very popular pattern.

I'm not finding anything that resembles the Towle fork; I'll have to pull down another book & get back to you.

Ditto for the Frank Whiting piece.

Is the Gorham piece a coffee spoon or cocktail fork? They made a lot of sets in odd patterns in the 1880's & this looks like it might be one of them. Griswold is the name of the jeweler who sold it.

The Reed & Barton is 'La Reine' introduced in 1893.

Hope this helps,
Hester

The Frank Whiting fork is 'Tyrolean' of 1893; I don't know how I missed this one before.

The Towle fork is 'Old English'. The drawing in my pattern book doesn't really look like it, but the 3 roses are distinctive.

OT - what kind of camera are you using for your closeups? I need a new digital with this capability & don't have a clue about which ones are the best. Any advice will be appreciated.
Hester

This is exciting! Thank you so much, Hester.

The Gorham piece is a fork, at 6.75" slightly smaller than the others.

I used a separate closeup lens, actually. The camera is a Panasonic Lumix FZ5 with a nice Leica lens. (The current model is probably the FZ8.) I would recommend it. The closeup lens is a Raynox 250, not expensive but apparently not available at present. I tried to buy one for my son for Christmas and couldn't find one anywhere. I'll bet a lot of folks are unhappy about that. Using a tripod and lots of patience, people have gotten some amazing results photographing insects and other things with this lens.

The Raynox 150 is easier to focus and would probably give you the results you want, but that doesn't seem to be available either. At least not from BugEyeDigital.com, where I bought my 250.

Hope this helps.

Susan

And Daesa, thanks for those good links!

Do larger pieces come in patterns? This creamer/sugar set is by Stieff.

{{gwi:1374691}}

Sometimes holloware was made in a matching pattern. With the rose theme, it would certainly go nicely with the flatware shown on the other thread. Stunning piece with that rose just popping out off the side; I'm drooling & I rarely collect holloware! You're lucky to have had ancestors with great taste.

Nothing to add here that Hester hasn't already said.
Yes, Hollow ware comes in patterns...not always the same as a flatware pattern, but definitly a pattern.
What is the mark opn the bottom of the creamer? Might give an idea to the date for sure...I am guessing about 1850 by the lovely repousse.
Linda C

The creamer says Stieff Sterling, and under that, S. Quite a bit below that is Hand Chased 26 1/2. (That was 26-and-a-half.)

The sugar bowl is the same, except the number at the bottom is 25 1/2.

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I have three pieces with the same pattern, and I'm stumped. I took a half-dozen photos of the mark, and will post the best one. There's not much to go on.

The first piece is a large (11"), heavy ladle. The spoon and fork in the second picture are 10.75" long.

Ladle:
{{gwi:1374692}}

Spoon and Fork:
{{gwi:1374693}}

Pattern for all three:
{{gwi:1374694}}

Mark (more or less):
{{gwi:1374695}}

Thank you!

These are wonderful and I have a relative of the Knowles one (first picture) If you ever decide to sell it, I would love to know about it!!
Thanks!

The Soup Ladle & Salad Set are from Whiting's 'Lily'first made in 1902. This is a beautiful & highly collectible pattern but it is also one of the most forged, copied, & reproducted patterns in existence. The design looks very crisp without the sloppiness that goes with the fake & newly made stuff, but there should be a Whiting emblem (lion with his foot on a ball) & STERLING or 925. If it's a really old piece, it may be stamped 'Pat 1902', & the really 1st rate pieces had weight marking that extended onto the shoulder of the piece. If you can zoom out so I can see any/all markings, I might can give you a better idea. If the above mark is the only stamp, it might be a really good recast, which is worth no where near what the old pieces bring.
Hester

Oh my!! Silver porn!!
Keep posting the pictures!
Linda C

The silver may be porn, but I'm lusting after Alisande's camera; such fine details. I want one. And I'd forgotten how much fun it is to identify mystery pieces!

BTW, Alisande, Replacements has a sugar & creamer like yours listed in the hollowware section under Stieff's Rose, along with another set having the small repousse that more closely matches the flatware (yours is much more elegant, IMO). According to Rainwater's "Encyclopedia of American Silver Mfgrs", an 'S' indicates that the set was made in 1952.
Hester

Hester, go for the camera! I have such fun with mine.

Here's another view of the Whiting Lily mark, first as it appears on the fork.
{{gwi:1374697}}

The STERLING mark on the ladle is further down on the handle. Up toward the bowl, where I photographed the mark on the fork, you can see only this. It looks as though something is written there, but I've no idea what. I thought it said "sterling" until I found the actual sterling mark further down.
{{gwi:1374699}}

Also, I noticed although they're the same pattern, the ladle lilies are slightly different from the salad set. Could it be because the ladle is larger? I can photograph the difference if you like, but not today as it's getting dark. (I don't like to use flash that close up.)

Linda, I meant to mention that I LOL at your silver porn comment. Funny!

And then there's my berry spoon. Have I mentioned my berry spoon? It was a wedding gift to me in 1965 from a lovely and elegant lady in Virginia. I see no marks on it whatsoever except the sterling. I call it a berry spoon because of the strawberries in the design. Perhaps it's not a listed pattern at all, but something created just for the purpose?

It's 9.25" long and quite heavy.

{{gwi:1374701}}

Here's the only mark I see:

{{gwi:1374703}}

Thanks!!

It's just junk!...Send it to me and I will send you a jar of jam and a jelly spoon for your trouble!

Uh-oh . . . how did we get from silver porn to junk??

What's junk, the berry/jelly spoon?

That berry spoon with the strawberries on it!...I MIGHT consider using it for some berries in a very plain bowl....
But to save you from the shame of putting something like that on your table....I will offer to trade you for a jar of my wonderful home made jam....and toss in a preserves spoon....
AND...I will pay the postage!!
Deal????
Linda C

You are all heart, Linda. And I do appreciate your attempt to save me from shame. But I was quite attached to the dear lady who mistakenly thought she was giving me something nice (she always did have poor eyesight, and it must have deteriorated terribly in her old age), so I'll simply have to keep the spoon under wraps when anyone with any taste is around (a rare event, actually) and use it only when I'm by myself. I think it would make a fine cereal spoon. . . on mornings when I'm really hungry.

But thanks. I'm sure your jam is exceeded only by your generosity.

No deal.

S.

Alisande,
I'm sorry, but I have to agree that the berry spoon is junk; I have one just like it with a Whiting Lily wannabe handle while yours is a Tiffany wannabe (I forget which pattern - Vine, I think). The story that I've heard is that some pattern molds were sold, stolen, thrown out, or whatever in the 1960's & the recipient(s) recast a bunch of larger serving pieces, berry spoons being one of the most popular. The bowl ends are almost always identical (it's from the Lily pattern) & look pretty good, but the handles are sloppy beyond belief, flat, & have noticeable lack of detail & no mfgr's trade mark. I've seen tons of them sold on ebay as originals saying that the pattern has been worn down due to use. If wear caused that much loss of detail on the handle, the bowl would be half gone! I'm sure the lady who gave it to you never had a clue that it was anything less than a prize piece and I'm certain your guests will never be the wiser.

I bought mine when I first started collecting & couldn't afford any large pieces & was so pleased with myself for finding an affordable berry spoon, even though "it didn't look quite right". If anybody wants it, let me know & I'll be happy to give it to you. It's a great size serving piece & unless you're a silver person, you'll never know it's a fake.

Regarding the Lily Salad Set & Ladle: Even though the detail looks good in the photo, the blurry markings bother me; usually the old pieces had very clear marks. Because there is so much of it out there, when I see anything in this pattern, I assume it's a fake or new piece until I examine it closely. Someone with expertise needs to look at yours in person. What large city are you near? Maybe I can recommend someone.

Hester

You know, when I received that spoon I wondered why it had so little detail. I thought maybe she'd given me an antique. Shows you how much I know! :-)

Good thing it has lots of sentimental value, huh? Her name was Margaret Cobb, and she was a geologist long before women appeared in that field. My dad worked for an oil company, and after my mother died (I was nine) he took me to work with him on occasion. I realize now that those were probably the days he didn't have someone to watch me at home, but at the time I thought he just liked to take me along. He was that kind of father.

I usually spent a good part of each day with Miss Cobb. She was in charge of the corporate libary. She was a soft-spoken southern woman, to all appearances rather fragile, but she knew a ton about a lot of things, and the rocks and minerals in her office could keep me fascinated for hours. She took me for a walk downtown (NYC) and told me how garnets could still be found in the streets.

So of course I love this spoon, junk or not. :-)

Prior to the 80's there was almost no interest in Victorian silver & I'm sure she (or the dealer she bought it from) never questioned that it was anything other than an antique. We Virginian women would never knowingly give a forgery as a gift, even to someone we DIDN'T like! She sounds like such a wonderful person & I can understand why it means so much to you. Enjoy.

Hi,
This is my first post- I have been searching to identify a silver type tong. I thought I had some sugar tongs but I can't find a picture of it anywhere. They would be consider scissor tongs - it is plain and at the end of the tong it a blunt point, but spring tension in it that keeps it open. I don't think it is a true scissor tong/nipper. Any suggestions?

Sounds like sugar nips to me.....can you post a picture?
Linda C