Candlesticks

[neurorocker]

Hi there,

Thank you to anyone who cares to share some wisdom. I have some antique pitch filled candlesticks (~585 grams, 9.5" tall) here. I could use some help with them. Can anyone give some insight as to the date of these, whether these are in fact sterling, and where they may have been made (I believe American)? General form is square base with oval fluted columns. 14 sided removable cups.

These are machine engraved with a social security number that traces through the SSN Death Index to a wealthy Colorado owner who was born about 1918 (I bought these in Denver) and died in 2007. Simply stamped 'STERLING' and the number 90.

And in other places (removable cups):
STERLING OR STERLING
90 90
6 2

[Aguest]

I have a few other objects with a similar "STERLING" stamp, and I just call it the "square sterling mark" because each of the letters have the same height and width. The letters seem perfectly square, if you get my meaning. All my items are bright-cut, as are your candlesticks, and this design work was all done by hand. I'm thinking the style is circa 1880-1900. I am not sure of the name of this company, but certainly it was an American company.

These candlesticks are almost certain to be sterling, but there is a test that can be performed that involves rubbing the metal on a slate and then applying a color-change acid that will show different colors based on the purity, this is the lowest cost and therefore the most common analysis.

Interesting that all these items have a machine-engraved SSN. Maybe the person who owned them was an engraver? I have seen scratched-in numbers, most likely made by antiques houses for reference, but never a machine-engraved number. That is quite uncommon and a bit eccentric.

[neurorocker]

Very nice reply. I know what you mean about this font. I'm not sure if it was a particular manufacturer or a common die / punch that was sold to numerous manufacturers. I agree with the date. I've looked at a multitude of candlesticks since I wrote the post and I had tentatively pegged this form as 1890.

I also agree about this particular mark being seen with bright cut engraving. I've seen that too.

I guess what threw me was the 90 mark in questioning that it's sterling. Probably inconsequential and has to do with the maker more than the metal. Many thanks for writing! There's not much to go on, so I appreciate you giving it a go.

[Aguest]

Yes the 90 and the 6 strike me as internal factory reference numbers, not related to the silver content which is .925 sterling.
Maybe the die punch was a common one given to multiple manufacturers, it seems similar to a few Fessenden pieces I have seen.

I have seen some beautiful spoons only marked "STERLING" which were of such high quality I could not understand why they were not hallmarked.

[Traintime]

The larger number could represent a catalog number for the complete piece, while the smaller numbers may be for the individual components. Does the same number appear in the same way on all the same pieces? A catalog number could lead you to your answer with any luck.

[neurorocker]

That's an excellent observation, and a very likely explanation. All pieces have the 90 mark. The candlesticks have only this mark and STERLING. The removable bobeche sockets are marked with 90 and then another single digit number as described above and STERLING. To my chagrin, no other marks on these candlesticks to ID them.