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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: cmlindb on March 13, 2014, 11:17:49 pm

Title: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 13, 2014, 11:17:49 pm
Hey guys, I haven't been on in a while and am excited to get back in to the grove of finding cool crap. I recently got a ton of silver plate for very little $$ and out of all of them this one stuck out to me. It is marked twice with English Silver MFG Corp and Black Starr & Gorham. It is heavier and feels better than the other silver plate I own. Any infor would be great and maybe a value. I have looked around but am falling short with research.
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 13, 2014, 11:19:35 pm
Pics
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 13, 2014, 11:25:05 pm
more pics
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: KC on March 14, 2014, 01:29:30 am
Can you please post the dimensions of the pieces?

Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 06:32:00 am
Sure can. It is about 11" X 8.5"
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: KC on March 14, 2014, 08:39:53 am
English Silver Manufacturing Corp is the actual maker of the piece whereas Black Starr (Frost ) & Gorham were the distributors of the silver items.

English Silver was founded in 1952 - 1990 with the mark you have on yours
http://www.sterlingflatwarefashions.com/SPMfgs/SPE1.html (http://www.sterlingflatwarefashions.com/SPMfgs/SPE1.html)

Black Starr & Gorham operated from 1940 - 1962...thus gives your pieces a window of 1952 - 1962!

From the size of it it could be a cheese or butter server.  How tall is it?  Seems too small for a vegetable server or meat plate.  There used to be servers for everything.  So, lets figure this one out!


Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 09:16:30 am
here is a picture with a bottle of wine inside it for a little bit of sizing. Great response by the way.
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: mart on March 14, 2014, 09:32:23 am
11 in would be too large for butter but a great size for a cheese server !! May have had a wooden cutting board with it that fit inside !!
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 10:20:59 am
Yeah I'm thinking more along the lines of cheese or something larger than butter. Anyone have a ball park value. And does the fact that Black Starr & Gorham distibuted it make it better?
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: mart on March 14, 2014, 11:38:06 am
Are there hallmarks on the piece ??  Black Starr & Gorham were jewelers,,normally they don`t handle plated silver !!  Silverplate was a lower end product usually sold by local retailers !!
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 11:51:18 am
Are there hallmarks on the piece ??  Black Starr & Gorham were jewelers,,normally they don`t handle plated silver !!  Silverplate was a lower end product usually sold by local retailers !!

And the plot thickens.. There is a stamp that literally looks like this on the piece "BLACK STARR & GORHAM" on the piece. It is in a different place than the English Silver MFG Corp stamp though.
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 01:58:22 pm
I was just reading about Black, Starr & frost and how they became and merged with Gorham. I am not 100% that it is silver plate but I am almost sure without testing it.
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: Ipcress on March 14, 2014, 04:03:20 pm
Looks like good quality silver plate.
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 04:06:01 pm
Yeah that's what I was thinking but I can not figure out a range of value for the life of me.
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: KC on March 14, 2014, 06:26:40 pm
BS&G distributed the piece and it was made by English Silver Mfg Co.

Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 06:29:32 pm
Does the fact that BS&G distributed it make it worth more? It just feels like nice quality compared to normal.
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: mart on March 14, 2014, 08:19:04 pm
For silver plate,, $50. to $65. would be what I would expect if in excellent condition !! Some don`t even bring that much but sometimes speciality pieces do well !!  And by that I mean the less common serving pieces !!
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 08:31:34 pm
For silver plate,, $50. to $65. would be what I would expect if in excellent condition !! Some don`t even bring that much but sometimes speciality pieces do well !!  And by that I mean the less common serving pieces !!

Yeah, I am not so versed in silverplate but was wondering because of the BS&G stamp if it was special in any way. That and it's is heavier and feels really nice when holding it compared to other silver plate I thought I would check with you guys first.
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: mart on March 14, 2014, 08:40:37 pm
No,, they were just the retailers !!Only thing that helps is that it is probably a higher quality material !! But its still a plated item !!  They just had some pieces made and put their name on them !! Same as Sears does today !! Sears doesn`t make all the things that have the Sears name !! 
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 14, 2014, 08:46:01 pm
Okay... learning is just as good as finding something valuable (without the money though  ;) )
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: KC on March 15, 2014, 12:22:51 am
The fact that BS&G sold it helps maintain a value.

I failed to realize the width of the piece that you posted earlier...it is not butter or cheese.  What is the depth of the bottom tray and the lid (separately please).

You may have a silver plated rectangular covered vegetable serving piece.  This is what is known a silverplate holloware
Title: Re: Silver plate? Value? Any info?
Post by: cmlindb on March 15, 2014, 06:45:05 am
The bottom pieces is 2" deep and the top is 1 3/4"