Gorham & Co 5-1/2" Coin/Sterling Ladle

[hpidaves]

This 5-1/2" ladle is marked "GORHAM & CO" and I believe it is coin silver with a gold wash that extends far up the handle. There appears to be a repair just above the bowl. My questions are age and type of ladle (mustard?).

Thanks,
Dave

[redshirt66]

Have you tested to make sure it is solid silver? I have a fork with a very similar trademark (a few posts above yours). I had a jeweler do an acid test and it came up positive for silver, but it was only a surface test.

[silverly]

Going by the images alone, I am doubtful that this ladle is solid silver.

[dragonflywink]

Though Gorham coin spoons bearing that simple serifed-font 'GORHAM & CO' mark usually bear a 'COIN' or 'PURE COIN' stamp as well, it's not an absolute, can't see any reason your mustard spoon wouldn't be silver (guessing the 'X' perhaps a tally mark) - 'Gorham & Company' was the firm's name from 1852-65.

~Cheryl

[silverly]

From The Illustrated American Biography by A D Jones New York J Milton Emerson and Company MDLCCCIII (1853) pg 397:



I don't know how much this image may apply to the subject of Gorham & Co, but it seemed worth "running it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes." I do hope the ladle is solid silver.

[dragonflywink]

Carpenter's 'Gorham Silver, 1831-1981' (1982) states that Gorham didn't produce silverplate until 1865, noting they spent two years developing their process, with early pieces of very high quality. They did sell 'Plated Wares' in their earlier salesrooms, but those goods were not their production (they'd only just started making silver holloware around 1850), Carpenter also notes that John Gorham's diaries indicate that"he bought many kinds of silver items in England and France for resale in the United States". The 1852 Gorham & Thurber ad below, shown in the Carpenter book, states regarding Plated Ware, "A large assortment of this ware is kept constantly on hand;" Gorham was a spoon-maker, and in the 1850s, their production was efficiently die-stamped in a drop press, doubt there'd be any great profit in ordering basic Fiddle silverplate spoons from a jobber, or that they'd want to place their stamp on an inferior product...

~Cheryl

[legrandmogol]

This piece is definitely, bet my life, silver plated. You can see the base metal (which looks like brass or some sort of alloy) in all the areas that were regularly exposed to mustard (or whatever condiment it was used to serve)

[hpidaves]

Ok, so I really wanted to find out if this is solid silver or plated. The last post stated that there was a base metal showing through, which I took to be a gold wash over the silver. Applying a gold wash up the handle seemed unusual to me, but that is what it looked like. So, this may have been ill-advised, but I used my buffing wheel on the backside of the handle (it's for my personal collection anyway, and there's already a very noticeable repair). I knew that if the metal where I buffed became more gold in color, it was indeed plated. If, however, it became more silver in color, then the gold color is a gold wash, and not a brass base metal. I have attached a photo of the backside of the handle after buffing. It did not get more gold in color, but instead silver. This doesn't necessarily mean it is solid silver, but I buffed a few times and see no base metal.

I circled in the red the area that had gold there, but is now silver after buffing.

Thoughts?
Dave

[legrandmogol]

Buff the whole thing and see if it changes. I've never seen 'Gorham & Co' on anything but silver plate. Most old pieces of Gorham Coin silver would usually have the Gorham logo (The lion, anchor and the G) only, later they would also add Coin or Sterling. But just because I haven't seen it does not mean it has never happened. I would still bet money that this piece is Silver plated though.

[hpidaves]

I once owned a Fish Serving Fork in the Gorham coin silver Josephine pattern that was marked only with "PATENT 1855 COIN":

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=53198

Apparently, Gorham marked their wares in many different ways.

Dave

[dragonflywink]

What I see is gilt worn off to reveal silver on the heel, the sides of the shoulders, the lip of the bowl, the edges of the stem, and worn completely off the handle, all areas of expected wear - if silverplate on brass, would expect to see the reverse, Personally, wouldn't worry about the gilding removed (but of course, it isn't mine), doubt that it's original and would wonder if it was applied after that unfortunate repair in hope of making it look 'better'...

My personal experience with 'GORHAM & CO.' marks has been the total opposite, haven't run across any silverplate bearing that mark, and wouldn't expect to since they didn't produce plated wares in that period, but have seen loads of later 'GORHAM CO.' silverplate. Below are the Gorham & Co. marks shown in Carpenter, as well as early electroplate marks from the same book:







~Cheryl

[legrandmogol]

Well I am glad nobody took me up on either of my bets because I stand corrected. Cheryl is definitely right.