Tiffany Oddity

[admin]

The pattern is "Palm", patented in 1871 and one of the first patterns that Tiffany actually manufactured for themselves. The odd thing is that it has no Tiffany mark, just - Sterling, Pat 1871, and the retailer's mark of Starr & Marcus.
Starr & Marcus were also a New York firm, retailers of high end goods and would have been one of Tiffany's main competitors for the carriage trade. Seems odd that Tiffany would have supplied a local competitor and apparently agreed not to brand the goods.
I'm curious if anyone else has seen known Tiffany goods of the period that are lacking their maker's mark?

Thanks, Tom

[dmay]

Good to know I am not the only one who had ever felt this confusion! I once had a set of unmarked Palm pattern egg spoons with the retailer mark for Bailey Banks & Biddle. I thought the pattern was identical to Tiffany's Palm, but not having seen much of it, I thought it might have been a variation on the theme. Also, didn't give much thought to the competition issue, since BBB were Philadelphia based (at least at that time-now they are a "chain" owned by Zales-ugh!).

Sorry I don't have photos-I sold them a while ago.

[asheland]

I know this thread is old, but I'd be interested in seeing this piece!
Is there a photo available?