MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF USA AND CANADA SILVERPLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER MAKERS |
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created by Giorgio B. owner of www.silvercollection.it © - HOME  
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This is a page of A Small Collection of Antique Silver and Objects of vertu, a 1500 pages richly illustrated website offering all you need to know about antique silver, sterling silver, silverplate, sheffield plate, electroplate silver, silverware, flatware, tea services and tea complements, marks and hallmarks, articles, books, auction catalogs, famous silversmiths (Tiffany, Gorham, Jensen, Elkington), history, oddities ... SITE MAP - HOME PAGE |
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AMERICAN SILVER PLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER - ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF MAKERS: - L - |
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AMERICAN SILVERPLATE MARKS Aa / Al Am / Az Ba / Bh Bi / Bz C D E F G H I J K L Ma / Mh Mi / Mz N O P Q Ra / Rn Ro / Rz Sa / Sl Sm / Sz T U V Wa / Wd We / Wz X Y Z HOW TO READ, DECRYPT AND IDENTIFY THE MARKS ON AMERICAN SILVERPLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | WILLIAM F. LADD |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | VINCENT LAFORME |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | WALTER LAMPL |
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LANDERS, FRARY & CLARK - New Britain, CT A partnership of George M. Landers and Josiah Dewey in 1842. It became Landers & Smith Mfg Co in 1853 and Landers, Frary & Clark in 1865. Landers, Frary & Clark bought Meriden Cutlery Co in 1866 and continued to use its trademark. Out of business in the 1960s |
further marks in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
ALPHONSE LA PAGLIA - Meriden, CT Alphonse La Paglia was born in Italy and worked in the 1940' for Georg Jensen Inc. |
further marks in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
LA PIERRE MFG CO - Newark, NJ Founded in 1888 by Frank H. La Pierre. Purchased in 1929 by International Silver Company. |
further marks in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
LIPMAN-LEVINTER INDUSTRIES LTD formerly LIPMAN BROTHERS - Toronto, Ontario - Canada active (1920s-1930s) at 41, Peter Street, Toronto. Manufacturers of silver and silverplated holloware. The business of Henry Lipman, and his son-in-law, Mervyn 'Bing' Levinter. VIKING PLATE was their registered trade mark. |
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LIPPIATT SILVER PLATE AND ENGRAVING CO - New York incorporated in 1870. Ceased before 1874. |
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L.A. LITTLEFIELD SILVER CO - New Bedford MA Founded in 1884 by Needham and L.A. Littlefield. The firm was consolidated with Rockford Silver Plate Co in 1909, moving to Rockford, IL |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | PAUL LOBEL |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | JONATHAN L. LOCKE |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | P.H. LOCKLIN & SONS |
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THOMAS LONG COMPANY - Boston MA Manufacturer of sterling silver and silverplate. Active until c. 1945 |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | LORD SILVER INC. |
 From 1892 Daniel Low published a successful mail-order catalog called the Daniel Low Year Book where they advertised their Salem Witch souvenir spoons and Witch on jewelry like brooches, cuff links, hat and scarf pins. The catalogs illustrated also other items as solid gold brooches, pendants, hat pins, scarf pins, cuff links, pocket watches, lorgnette and watch chains, fobs and rings, silver toilet sets, novelties and silverware made by other primary American manufacturers. 
  Salem Witch spoon: 1st pattern made by Durgin  Salem Witch spoon: 2nd pattern made by Gorham further marks in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
DANIEL LOW & CO - Salem, MA Maker and retailer of sterling silver vanity items and novelties established in 1867 as a small jewelry shop. His son Seth F. Low designed the first "Witch spoon", made by Durgin Division of the Gorham Mfg Co and advertised in National magazines, largely responsible of the souvenir spoon mania that swept shortly before 1900. The business was incorporated in 1907 under the name Daniel Low & Co Inc. They published a mail-order catalog, which grew to as large as 200 pages. Their first mail order catalogue was called the Daniel Low Year Book and put out in 1892. After the death of Daniel Low (1911) the business was managed by his son Seth Low. Later the company was run by Seth's widow Florence until the mid-1950s. In 1955, Bill Follett bought and ran the company until it was sold, along with the building, in 1994. OLD IMAGE OF THE SHOP DANIEL LOW & CO: THE CREATORS OF WITCH SOUVENIR SPOON |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | LOWS, BALL & COMPANY |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | LUDWIG, REDLICH & CO |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | LUNT SILVERSMITHS |
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L.LURIA & SON INC. - New York, NY A Florida-based retailer of jewelry, gifts, housewares, and electronics founded in New York by Lazer Luria in 1898. |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | LUXEMBERG UNIFORM COMPANY |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | WILLIAM H. LYON |
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LYONS SILVER CO - Lyons. NY a trade mark of Manhattan Silver Plate Co successors of Manhattan Plate Co |
The two common forms of plated silver are Sheffield plate and silverplate/electroplate.
Sheffield Plate is a cheaper substitute for sterling, produced by fusing sheets of silver to the top and bottom of a sheet of copper or base metal. This 'silver sandwich' was then worked into finished pieces. At first it was only put on one side and later was on top and bottom.
Modern electroplating was invented by Italian chemist Luigi V. Brugnatelli in 1805. Brugnatelli used his colleague Alessandro Volta's invention of five years earlier, the voltaic pile, to facilitate the first electrodeposition. Unfortunately, Brugnatelli's inventions were repressed by the French Academy of Sciences and did not become used in general industry for the following thirty years.
Silver plate or electroplate is formed when a thin layer of pure or sterling silver is deposited electrolytically on the surface of a base metal. By 1839, scientists in Britain and Russia had independently devised metal deposition processes similar to Brugnatelli's for the copper electroplating of printing press plates.
Soon after, John Wright of Birmingham, England, discovered that potassium cyanide was a suitable electrolyte for gold and silver electroplating.
Wright's associates, George Elkington and Henry Elkington were awarded the first patents for electroplating in 1840. These two then founded the electroplating industry in Birmingham England from where it spread around the world.
Common base metals include copper, brass, nickel silver - an alloy of copper, zinc and nickel - and Britannia metal-a tin alloy with 5-10% antimony. Electroplated materials are often stamped EPNS for electroplated nickel or silver, or EPBM for electroplated Britannia metal.
Sheffield plate by the fusion process was not made in America, but factories here did turn out quantities of electroplated silver. In fact, it was so popular that one English firm with several variations of its name, but all including Dixon, sold quantities of electroplated silver, issued catalogues, and even had a New York showroom.
Today there is a great deal of American plated silver which has been treasured for years. Many families had plated silver as well as fine sterling. Some of it was inherited; some prized for sentimental reasons. If you have this plated ware, and it is as dear to you as fine early silver, then you are among the happy people of this world.
On plated silver the terms 'triple' and 'quadruple' indicate the number of coatings received by the base metal in the electroplating process. Naturally the more metal used in the plating the longer the piece should last. Polishing and wear have taken their toll of much of this plated ware and whether pieces are worth replating depends on their usefulness and your pleasure in them. If you like them well enough to spend money on them, then by all means have the work done, but remember a piece is worth at market value only the metal that is in it, the base metal under the plating being worth very little.
E.P.N.S. (Electroplated Nickel Silver) and EPBM (Electroplated Britannia Metal) are the most common names attributed to silver plate items. But many other names are used for silver plate:
EPWM, Electroplate on White Metal, EPC, Electroplate On Copper, EPCA, Electro Plated Copper Alloy, EPGS - Electro Plated German Silver, EPMS - Electro Plated Magnetic Silver, African Silver, Albion Silver, Alpha Plate, Ambassador Plate, Angle Plate, Argentium, Argentine Plate, Argentum, Ascetic, Austrian Silver, Brazilian Silver, Britanoid, Cardinal Plate, Electrum, Embassy Plate, Encore, Exquisite, Insignia Plate, Kingsley Plate, New Silver, Nevada Silver, Norwegian Silver, Pelican Silver, Potosi Silver, Royal County Plate, Silva Seal, Silverite, Sonora Silver, Spur Silver, Stainless Nickel, Stainless Nickel Silver, Unity Plate, Venetian Silver, Welbeck Plate,
| STERLING SILVER OF USA AND CANADA |
| SILVER MANUFACTURERS: MARKS, HISTORY AND INFORMATION |
 Fabergé Gorham International Silver Co Georg Jensen Kirk Stieff Meriden Britannia Reed & Barton Rogers Tiffany & Co Towle Wallace Wiener Werkstatte WMF |
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