Marks on knife

Item must be marked "Sterling" or "925"
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Qrt.S
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Marks on knife

Post by Qrt.S »

Hello everybody and greetings from the Russian sites.

I have stumbled into this knife. I'm not familiar with American marks and I cannot find it in my rather limited sources of American maker's marks. Therefore I'd like to ask you who is the maker of this butter or paté knife. Any additional information would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance and have a nice evening.
Qrt.S
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dragonflywink
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Re: Marks on knife

Post by dragonflywink »

Whiting's Imperial Queen pattern:

http://www.925-1000.com/Whiting_Date_Code.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.925-1000.com/patterns_Whiting_4.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

~Cheryl
dragonflywink
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Re: Marks on knife

Post by dragonflywink »

An 1896 Whiting catalog lists it as a butter spreader.

~Cheryl
Qrt.S
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Re: Marks on knife

Post by Qrt.S »

Thank you Cheryl, I appreciated it. Enjoy the sun, here we have snow up to our ears,
Have a nice evening

Qrt.S
Qrt.S
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Re: Marks on knife

Post by Qrt.S »

Sorry, but one additional question. What does the second mark from the left in the circle mean ? It is not a year mark, but what?
dragonflywink
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Re: Marks on knife

Post by dragonflywink »

Hi Qrt.S ~ It's a bit chilly here for those of us acclimated to the Florida heat, but I'm not complaining!

I've only seen that mark on some of the pieces in a couple of patterns, this one and Dresden - and most of my references and notes aren't available to me at the moment, but if I recall correctly, one theory on that mark, which on some pieces somewhat resembles Gorham's Old English style "G", it's suspected as being used after Whiting was merged into Gorham and their factory moved to Providence, RI around 1924. Having seen some regular teaspoons engraved as souvenirs with much earlier dates than 1924, as well as the 1890s patent dates, which were usually left off dies produced after the patents had expired, personally suspect that it's more likely an Old English style "O" for Whiting's chief designer Charles Osborne - both Imperial Queen (U.S. Design Patent #D22243) and Dresden (#D25433) are his designs. Never really did any in-depth research on it though, and can't give you any confirmation of either theory.....

~Cheryl
Qrt.S
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Re: Marks on knife

Post by Qrt.S »

OK, good enough explanation.

Thank you and have a nice day

Qrt.S
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