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I believe this set to be by F. H. Clark of Memphis, TN. I was wondering is someone could help me identify the purpose of the set. There appears to be to serving spoons and forks plus dinner forks and spoons. Also would be grateful is someone could id the floral pattern. Pictures below and many thanks.

Try a comparison to Gorham Josephine pattern (drawing in thread here): https://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopi ... 8c#p167687

The pattern is called Josephine. For me at least the purpose of the set is up to the user. They look like pretty common examples of flatware. The size I think is the biggest determining factor of their uses.

Thank you both for the information. It is interesting the U.S. Patent office allowed such similar patterns to be patented the very same year. I guess there was enough difference particularly on the back of the bowl to make this possible.
As far as use, I can envision serving plum pudding with hard sauce topping and coffee to a intimate gathering of four.

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I got a message:

"This set was made by Gorham, bought wholesale by Clark unmarked, then stamped with Clark’s name. These were made with Machinery unavailable to smaller enterprises like Clark’s workshop.

No reference yet (I am in the midst of writing a history of the pattern), but I am 100% certain this was a retailed piece. I own hundreds of examples of Josephine, most bearing “COIN” and “1855” marks by Gorham, and wholesale retailers marks."

This sounds logical in that Clark was was more of a retailer than silversmith. I shared with him the picture of the Josephine pattern and noted differences particularly on the back of the spoon bowl.

I think it is fair to say that the pattern is commonly called Josephine. However, I see researches that far surpass abilities question where the pattern originated. So it sounds like you may have your hands full with this one. Good luck.

Just to be clear - this is Gorham's 'Josephine' pattern, patented in 1855, produced with their new at the time steam drop-press, and retailed by F.H. Clark & Co. - the marks are typical.

From Carpenter's 'Gorham Silver 1831-1981' (1982):






~Cheryl

For what it's worth, this is the patent drawing for this pattern. I had to look at it many times to convince myself that it is correct because of the quality of the photo copy and the added identification markings that go along with the patent description.