Good day, friends. Me again. I hope you are all well.
I have this Gorham tea caddy spoon which (to me) is particularly attractive in shape and design. But I’m having trouble trying to date it. The sources concerning dating of Gorham items have so far succeeded in confusing me. Perhaps, Phil, you and those Gorham experts out there can help me out, please, if you would be so kind.
1 - In 1868 Gorham made the switch from coin silver to sterling. Gorham’s acceptance of the Stirling standard in that year means my spoon was made after 1868.
2 - The “848” seems to be one of the company’s production numbers, and this started in the 1850’s already.
3 - However, pieces made between 1868 and 1884 were marked with capital letters beginning with “A”. My spoon has no capital letters, which leads me to think it was made after 1884. However, the capital letters were followed by icons, so that upsets the post-1884 applecart.
4 - Gorham’s three marks consisting of a lion, an anchor and the letter G WITHOUT cartouches is indicated as being used during the last quarter of the 19th century (1875-1899).
Can anyone help me make sense of all this? And also, can anyone recognize the nice pattern on the front of the stem? I think those patterns must all have names given by Gorham’s?
Trustingly
Jan
