Interesting Albert Pick and Blackstone Pieces

[hpidaves]

I recently acquired two silverplate pieces, one of which (the Albert Pick) is hotel/restaurant-ware for the Francis Marion hotel in Charleston, SC. The other has a monogram that I have not yet determined -- the Blackstone Silver piece.

Here's the interesting part, at least to me:

The pattern of the piece marked Albert Pick can be found on the Blackstone Silver Co pattern page -- Mission, 1908:
https://sterlingflatwarefashions.com/SP ... stone.html






The pattern of the piece marked Blackstone Silver Co can be found on the Albert Pick pattern page -- Franklin, 1919:
https://sterlingflatwarefashions.com/SP ... APick.html





Are the companies linked in some way? Also, I am very interested in the monogram on the Franklin pattern piece. It appears the entire raised diamond shape with the letters in it (JRL in some order) was added to the spoon handle.

Thanks,
Dave

[Traintime]

Too bad this is not a contest to win what you identify because that's the hammered pattern bearing the logo of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. You should find some related samples on Worthpoint.

[Traintime]

This Lehigh Valley logo is linked to a china pattern manufactured with a Lamberton (the Maddock Pottery Works, N.J.) backstamp and is called LV-5.1 "John Wilkes" in Richard Luckin's Dining On Rails. He cites Everett L. Maffet's book Silver Banquet II as showing the same logo. Now, L. Barth & Sons of New York supplied a silverplated tray with this logo, and they are known to have supplied some other L.V.R.R. china, which can also be linked to Maddock Pottery. Barth & Pick were merged together in 1926, with the Barth name eliminated in 1931. Pick used Blackstone and eventually aquired it, but that does not rule out Barth from doing business with them. [There is another supplier name turning up on other pieces in this design. Will try to look at that later.]

[hpidaves]

Thanks again so much for the information. I do come across railroad silverware on occasion, so the "R", or possibly double "R", did make me think that it might be railroad, but I had no idea what to make of the other shapes. I would have most likely never found what this was on my own. I took the outer shapes as a "J" and "L".

I did check out Worthpoint -- I'm not a member and will most likely not join, but I did see a few other hollow-ware pieces with the same logo. Do you happen to know about when this piece may have been in use? I see that someone mentions a date of 1910 for their "hammered" hollow-ware piece. Also, the pattern does seem to match the one I mentioned above -- Albert Pick Franklin pattern of 1919, with the railroad design added. Might this give a clue as to when it was first put into use?

Thanks,
Dave

[Traintime]

There is a recent book (made available for online purchase) on railroad silver which likely has it. I don't have a copy. Luckin used a drawing in this case and did not show which Lamberton stamp was used. It would either be late Maddock or early Scammell, so the 1918/19 to 1926/31 era would probably fit. The name Black Diamond is used as that references both the company's normal logo and the line's top express passenger train. The John Wilkes recieved a streamstyled steam locomotive in the '30's but I don't see how this pattern would relate as it fits the craftsman style popular before the deco influences came in. [Railroad china names were selected to be descriptive, but not always historically correct.] Note that the past seller of a group of silverplated items stated (2nd hand) that they came from a station in Pennsylvania...that might need some investigation beyond this forum's general scope.

[Traintime]

The linked site has the mark (lower left) known to surface on L.V.R.R. hammered style hollowares under name of supplier Jos. Heinrichs Corp. New York: http://www.silvercollection.it/AMERICAN ... ARKSH.html

Do not confuse this with Hinrichs & Company NY or E.A. Hinrichs & Co. Chicago. The Restaurantware Collectors Network (RWCN) may have information on these firms...their new incarnation has moved to FB but some things are openly posted in the "idwiki", accessible online. The "railroadiana.org" site for the Railroadiana Collectors organization might have information via the forum threads. They also link to more sources.