Newark Silver Demitassie Spoon?

[IMAZTriBabe]

Trying to find any information on this spoon. It is about 4-3/8" long with the bowl less than an inch across. Any information that can be provided, would be appreciated. Thanks, Lori

[Traintime]

The Newark brand name has been bothering me for a while too. Might not be the answer, but in 1892-3 Moses King's Handbook of the United States had this to say about Tiffany & Co., "The silver-ware factory, on Prince Street, and the plated-ware factory, at Newark, are two of the most perfectly equipped and efficient manufacturing establishments in the country." But don't get your hopes up, as I would expect Tiffany to use their own name for branding. Perhaps they sold their works after this date.

[IMAZTriBabe]

Thanks for the additional info and the time you took to research that. I want to think it is sterling, but not sure. Maybe its just me, but sterling silver gives off this distinct odor, and this spoon "smells" like sterling silver.. It will be interesting if we can find out more..

Thanks again..

Lori

[dragonflywink]

It's silverplate, the wear-through to the nickel-silver base metal is evident in the pictures - a commercial soda fountain spoon, this size intended for use in small dishes of ice cream, sherbet, sundaes, etc. Have seen this mark several times before, and believe all I've seen were soda fountain spoons or ladles - haven't seen the mark attributed to any particular maker, could have been a small jobber, or a larger manufacturer using 'Newark Silver' as a trade-name for this line of electroplated wares...

~Cheryl

[Traintime]

There are other pieces. I've seen teaspoon and fork. Appears to be thin plating, easily worn but not horrible product. Were there any other concerns making plate in the Newark area other than Tiffany? I don't expect this stuff to be pre-1900 but am making no conclusions about it yet. Are we seeing any Tiffany marked plate as we would expect from King's citation?

[dragonflywink]

Newark had a thriving metal industry for decades - seems extremely unlikely to me that 'Newark Silver' has anything to do with Tiffany, their silverplate isn't particularly uncommon, and is of good quality, fully marked as Tiffany. While the 'Newark Silver' items may well have been made in New Jersey, there is also the possibility they were made in another Newark, or that it's just a trade-name, perhaps referencing the Newark Silver Mine in Nevada. Wasn't unusual for late 19th-early 20th century manufacturers of white-metal and/or plated items to mark their goods as some sort of 'Silver' - a few that come to mind are 'Potosi Silver' of Birmingham, England, referencing the Bolivian silver mines at Potosi in both their name and marks, Joseph Gilbert, also of Birmingham, used 'Argentina Silver', and Daniel & Arter used 'Japanese, Indian, Bengal, Brazilian, Laxey and Nevada - Silver' on their production; Standard Silver Ware of Boston, MA used 'Nevada Silver Metal', and Cattarauga Cutlery of Little Valley, NY and Raymond Mfg. of Muncie, IN both marked their goods as 'Yukon Silver'...

~Cheryl

From a 1906 wholesaler's catalog:


An 1896 advertisement:


From the 1908 Blue Book: