Whiting Pepper Pot Open Salt Pair

[timeinabottle]

Hi! Not being great at sterling at all, (bottles are my niche!) I'm wondering if anybody confirm for me that these are indeed a pair of pepper pots and open salts. Were these used as a pair at the dining table, one set per table setting?. They are marked with 925 // STERLING // 1000 and then and undiscernible mark down and to the right of that. Whiting has some triangular marks but I can't say if these match any of those. Any help on my questions would be awesome! . I could go on and on but will leave it at this for now. Thanks in advance! Scott

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[timeinabottle]

I think I found the answer all on my own! Looks to be the Baltimore Sterling Silver Co. marks and the unidentifiable one I first mentioned is the little crown they use with a B under it. My items are worn enough you can't see the B, but I'm quite sure that's what they are now!

[dognose]

Hi,

It would be great if you could post some larger close-ups of the marks.

Trev.

[timeinabottle]

Hello Trev,
I will try to get smaller pics when I return home from work tonight. In researching the BSS Co. I found that only the earliest pieces do not have the third company stamp, which they omitted for whomever they were selling their wares to so they could put their own stamp on them. Pretty neat seeing how the first pieces of silver I've ever purchased in my life (from a garage sale to boot) turn out to be pretty darn good pieces!

[timeinabottle]

Trev,

pics seemed to have a problem. Here is the best I could do with the camera I have. I'm 99% sure this is from the Baltimore Sterling Silver Co. and an early group at that.




Scott

[dognose]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for posting the extra images.

Trev.

[timeinabottle]

Trev,

So in your opinion, are these marks from the BSS Co.?

Scott

[dognose]

Hi Scott,

The marks do not resemble those that I know are attributed to the Baltimore Sterling Silver Co., but let's wait for the opinions of those with better knowledge of American marks.

Trev.

[timeinabottle]

Trev,

I don't know if links are allowed but if you go to http://thestieffcompany.com/The_Stieff_ ... items.html and scroll towards the bottom of that long page it actually shows a pepper tower with the crown B mark. The website is tremendous and I think I will make a donation to them.

Scott

[dognose]

See: http://www.925-1000.com/americansilver_B2.html

Trev.

[timeinabottle]

I saw your link prior and after reviewing it and the hours I spent on my link reading and reviewing photographs, I'm 100% convinced that these are pre 1900 BSS Co. Pieces. I'm giddy about finding them!

[dognose]

The more I look at them, the more I think you are correct, especially bearing in mind the style of the items. Scott Perkins, who runs the website that you linked to, is a member of this forum, but I think only an occasional visitor, which is a shame as he has such an extensive knowledge of the firm.

Trev.

[timeinabottle]

Thanks for your help! I think I'm going to email him. Now if I could only figure out how to delete this post from the forged section. It's in two spots and that is not good.
Scott

[timeinabottle]

Trev,

I e-mailed Scott and man, what a nice fella! He responded within 10 minutes and confirmed that they are a set of BSS Co. pepper and salts! He also mentioned "how lucky, very luck" I was to obtain them! I made a contribution to his site and highly recommend it for anybody needing information on BSS Co. or Stieff items. He has spent what has to be hundreds, if not thousands, of hours creating it!

Scott

[Aguest]

I also received assistance from Scott Perkins and he was extremely kind and helpful. I found a fork that was channel-back hand-chased rose that was made by Klank, one of the early names in Baltimore silver that led to Stieff and Schoenfeld. We discussed the details of the fork at length, and he explained that if I could see shadows within the hand-chased details then it was genuine hand-chased rose and not just the die-stamped rose that other Klank collectors have found in the past.

He is a great resource and a true enthusiast of Baltimore Silver, I just wanted to add this experience to this thread.