www.925-1000.com

HI All!

Pawnbroker out of Northern California here! We see all sorts of silver and silverplate come through our shop and I figured it was high time to join the forum officially since I'm on this site at least 3 times a week.

Anyway, right now, we're working through a big lot of estate sterling and silverplate pieces and I have this gorgeous pitcher/water jug that has me completely stumped.

Base is stamped Viking SIlver / {horned viking helmet} / V14







Doesn't match with any of the Viking Silver hallmarks out of Canada that I have found... Sooooo, what do I have?!?

Hi,

Welcome to the Forum.

I'm presuming, having never noted the mark before, that this may be the product of the Benedict Mfg. Co. of East Syracuse, New York. Around 1910 they manufactured a line under the name of 'Viking Silver'.

As stated, I've never seen the mark before, so only offering it as a possibility and a route for further research.

See: http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 38&t=41422

Trev.

Thanks for the info dognose! I had gotten to the Benedict Mfg Co but haven't been able to find any additional information on the wider Viking SIlver line.

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Based on the Benedict Mfg Co catalogs on the site, I'm guessing the piece is Art Nouveau (1900-1915ish?), silver plate, and that the pattern name is actually "Viking Silver".


Never seen the branch/twig design before and I LOVE it....might keep this piece for myself and have our jeweler polish out the ornate "R" monogram.


Cheers and on to another piece!

Don't really have any other suggestions, other than perhaps an undocumented small jobber or a small line for a particular retailer, but have some serious doubts that it was part of Benedict's 'Viking Silver'. That was a very specific Arts & Crafts line, featuring mixed metal Viking-themed motifs, like longships and dragons, and every piece I've seen bore Benedict's 'bee' trademark along with a serifed letter 'Viking Silver' logo.

It's a nice piece, if guessing, would say circa 1890s, though it could be a bit later (personally, prefer to leave monograms, but to each their own)...

~Cheryl

dragonflywink wrote:Don't really have any other suggestions, other than perhaps an undocumented small jobber or a small line for a particular retailer, but have some serious doubts that it was part of Benedict's 'Viking Silver'. That was a very specific Arts & Crafts line, featuring mixed metal Viking-themed motifs, like longships and dragons, and every piece I've seen bore Benedict's 'bee' trademark along with a serifed letter 'Viking Silver' logo.

It's a nice piece, if guessing, would say circa 1890s, though it could be a bit later (personally, prefer to leave monograms, but to each their own)...

~Cheryl

Thanks Cheryl! I haven't found any other hallmarks that match this one, even other Benedict pieces. I sent the same images to replacements.com and they didn't have any info either! I think you are correct in that it is a small production line or in-house piece.

May I ask, what makes you think 1890's vs. other periods? Teach me!!!! :)

Have you been able to find any other information on your piece. I recently came across one myself it doesn't say "Viking Silver" rather just "Viking" horned helmet and "V40"

In 1933 Reed & Barton filed for a trademark for both the viking helmet and the name Viking for holloware and flatware of silver and/or other precious metals and claimed use of the marks since 1933.

Hi Paul,

Welcome to the Forum.

Can you please post an image of at least the marks on your item so that we can compare them?

Trev.

silverly wrote:In 1933 Reed & Barton filed for a trademark for both the viking helmet and the name Viking for holloware and flatware of silver and/or other precious metals and claimed use of the marks since 1933.

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By United States. Patent Office