ASCAS Association of Small Collectors of Antique Silvernewsletter # 138 November 2015
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email: silverassociation@yahoo.it

YOUR GUIDE TO NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER: articles new members members' window
mail to ASCAS replies to questions a page per month a silversmith per month a word per month
a book on my shelf a crest per month contributors to this Newsletter search engine


This is the last article I have in my "reserve" for future publications.
Next month the newsletter will be published without any article or, possibly, I delay its distribution until new articles will be available for publication.
My appeal for aid is to the mass of potential authors who could contribute to the diffusion of ASCAS newsletter writing about their small or large collection sharing with others (anonymously if necessary) their knowledge, their passion and their researches.
It's the 15th year that ASCAS reaches every month your mailbox, but without your help I fear that soon I will be forced to cease publication of the newsletter.
DON'T LET ASCAS DIE
Thanks in advance for your support.
Giorgio Busetto

A new article for ASCAS website

German silver decorative spoon, possibly with Goethe portrait

David McKinley presents:

Three Decorative Spoons English version

It seems that the humble spoon has, like grander plate, been accepted universally by silversmiths as the ideal vehicle for artistic expression. Whereas, however, European silversmiths were happy to produce decorative objects of spoon form which were never intended to be used as such, English silversmiths appeared intent on maintaining the utility purpose of their products however heavily they decorated them.

The first illustration is of what is called a "berry spoon" although there was probably no such spoon ever produced so that the name is unlikely to be found in the pattern books of makers' workshops. This type of spoon was adapted from some other spoon and the type of decoration is almost exclusively confined to the Victorian period....
click here English version


New members

Welcome to new ASCAS members:

Karen Chapman - USA
Philippe Schilovitz - France
Elaine Pacheco - USA


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Mail to ASCAS: e-mail silverassociation@yahoo.it

Piero Eduardo writes:
... I have a calabash gourd & meerschaum pipe with silver mounts hallmarked 'AD without frame', Birmingham Assay Office, date 1908.
I need your help to identify the maker.
Piero Eduardo

The silversmith is, presumably, Auguste Dreyfus, 15-16 Featherstone Street, London.
Dreyfus entered hallmarks in Chester as 'pipe manufacturer' in 1885, 1888 and 1890.
Other marks were entered in London as 'pipe & stick mounter' in 1888, 1900, 1902 and 1910.
The hallmark entered in 1902 was cancelled in 1910 and is quite similar to the mark of Birmingham.
For tobacconists and pipe makers' marks see my website at http://www.silvercollection.it/dictionarytobacconistA.html
Giorgio Busetto


William Isbister writes:
...Do you have any idea whose mark this is please? (J C a bee between)
William Isbister

Possibly the maker is
Jean Cheroux, rue Sainte-Avoye, Paris
Mark entered 1827
This maker used a mark JC with a bee over a star
Robert Massart


Debbie Rindge writes:
...Please help identify the maker's mark on this set of 12 British sterling knives.
The only marks are the lion passant and the maker's mark B D in cursive script.
Thank you,
Debbie Rindge

The maker is Dru Drury II, silversmith registered in the category "hiltmaker / knifehaft-maker". The mark was entered in London on 16.12.1767.
Dru Drury II (born 2 February 1725) was the son of Dru Drury I. He was apprenticed to his father in 1739, free 1746. His mark was entered in 1767 with address in Wood Street (possibly following the death of his father). In 1777 he is described as haft-maker at Strand. Dru Drury and Son were active at Strand, Corner of Villiers Street (1781-1793).
His elder son William Drury (born 1752) was active as goldsmith and jeweller at 32 Strand in 1796, by which time his father had apparently retired (information obtained by Grimwade).
Giorgio Busetto



Replies to questions

Ludo D' Haese receives this answer about his Spanish candlesticks
(see October 2015 Newsletter)

Jose Luis Muñoz writes:
The mark belongs to Matilde Espuñes y Bagués, granddaughter of Ramón Espuñes and daughter from his first marriage and first child of Luis Espuñes. Matilde Espuñes learned the trade from his father and at his death she established her own business creating the firm M.Espuñes with an important staff of goldsmiths and high production of silverware. After the Civil War (1936-1939) M.Espuñes entered in partnership with the firm Meneses creating the Unión de Orfebres (Union of Goldsmiths) and became part of Rumasa group that went out of business in the third quarter of the 20th century. Matilde Espuñes used the mark M / cup / E for silver; the figure of an alpaca for cutlery and M.E. for silverplate.
Jose Luis Muñoz



"A PAGE per MONTH"

In this column we presents a page obtained from makers' brochures, books, auction catalogs, advertising or whatever other printed paper, related to silver, that may be of interest for ASCAS members.
The images will be published at a "low resolution" level and for private and personal use only.
This column is published under the kind permission of Giorgio Busetto's website

www.silvercollection.it home page
William Ryland & Sons, old advertisement

This month ASCAS presents an ancient advertisement of:

WILLIAM RYLAND & SONS

Birmingham

William Ryland & Sons was active in Birmingham as manufacturers of "plated & brass, coach & coach harness furniture, bridle bitts, stirrups, spurs, plated knifes & forks, spoons & ladles, snuffers, skewers, etc".
The London address of the firm was: 128 Long Acre.

This image is part of the ADVERTISEMENTS IN SILVER - SILVER ADVERTISING section of www.silvercollection.it website


"A WORD per MONTH"

In this column we present an abstract from a page of the "What is? Silver Dictionary"
courtesy of

 
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Napier sterling silver baby bib holder

BIB HOLDER

The baby bib holder is a silver device used to hold the bib used to protect the clothing while the child is eating.
It consists of a short chain with a clasp at its two extremities. Sometimes the clasps have figural shapes as animals or cartoon personages.
Sterling silver bib holders were a feature of American society and most of them have been manufactured in the USA in the first half of the 20th century.
A precious gift by relatives and friends on the occasion of the birth of a child.
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"A SILVERSMITH per MONTH"

In this column we present marks, information and history of silversmiths and silver manufacturers.
This column is published under the kind permission of Giorgio Busetto's website
www.silvercollection.it home page

RICHARDS & BROWN, SILVERSMITHS IN LONDON
GEORGE JOHN RICHARDS - GEORGE RICHARDS & EDWARD BROWN - EDWARD CHARLES BROWN

The firm was established in 1843 at 26 1/2 Seckforde Street, Clerkenwell by George John Richards (c.1817 - 1876), son of William Richards (silversmith, Citizen and Goldsmith).
George John Richards obtained his freedom of the Goldsmiths' Company by Patrimony in 1839 and entered his first mark on 16 May 1844.
In 1850 he moved to 35 Whiskin Street and in 1853 to 20 Red Lion Street, Clerkenwell.
In 1857 George J. Richards entered in partnership with Edward Charles Brown registering a conjoined mark on 13 July 1857.
Edward C. Brown was an apprentice (1845) of George J. Richards who obtained his freedom by Service in 1852.
Another apprentice was William Comyns (1849) who obtained his freedom in 1856....
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"A BOOK ON MY SHELF"

In this column we present books, new or ancient, dealing with silver in all its aspects (history, marks, oddities...). This isn't a "book review" but only a fair presentation of some useful "tools" that anyone may have in the shelf of his bookcase.
ASCAS members are invited to contribute to this column

(click to enlarge images)

In the "book on my shelf" of this month ASCAS presents:

a book per month: Bottle Tickets

BOTTLE TICKETS

by Jane Stancliffe
Victoria & Albert Museum
(no date)

(from the introduction of the book)
We have all seen or heard of the wine or decanter label, so popular with collectors, and for some it may therefore appear misleading to entitle the book "Bottle Tickets". However, for much of the eighteenth century, when they first appear, wine and decanter labels were known as bottle tickets. An early reference to the bottle ticket occurs in the Gentlemens' (Clients') ledgers of the fashionable goldsmith George Wickes, when on 9 May, 1736/7, Lord Lymington was charged £ 1.10d for 'six Bottle Ticketts'.
Contemporary gazettes begin to refer to 'labels for bottles' in the 1770s but not until the 1790s were they established as wine or decanter labels. Their function was to identify the contents of a bottle or decanter, which might alternatively contain spirits, sauces, toilet waters or cordials; all these types are described and illustrated in this brief survey. The bottle tickets in the Victoria and Albert Museum number some seventeen hundred, the greater part of the collection left by the late Mr PJ Cropper in 1944....


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Closing our NOVEMBER 2015 edition of ASCAS Newsletter I hope you have appreciated its content.
Your comments, suggestions and advice will be of great help.

My thanks to Piero Eduardo, William Isbister, Robert Massart, David McKinley, Jose Luis Muñoz Debbie Rindge for their precious contributions.

Giorgio Busetto
Secretary

DISCLAIMER AND PRIVACY POLICY

ASCAS is a community of people having a common interest in antique silver.
It is a non-profit association without commercial links. Membership is open to whomever has a true interest in this subject matter.
ASCAS has no real property and no fees are requested nor accepted from members.
ASCAS keeps in touch with its members only through periodical newsletters, e-mails and web-site updating and ignores and is not responsible for any other activity pursued by its members.
Likewise, ASCAS is not responsible for opinions, evaluation and images displayed, and in any form published or supplied for publication, by its members who, in any case, maintain the property of their works and assure the respect of national and international legislation about Intellectual Property.
ASCAS does not have the full addresses of its members (only town, country and e-mail address are requested for membership).
ASCAS handles and protects with care its members' e-mail addresses, will not disclose the addresses to third parties, will use this information only to reply to requests received from members and for communications strictly related to its activity.
These rules are expressly accepted by submitting the membership request.

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