MARKS AND HALLMARKS OF USA AND CANADA SILVERPLATE AND ELECTROPLATED SILVER MAKERS |
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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 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 |
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RACINE SILVER PLATE CO - Racine, WI Founded in 1873 in Racine, WI. Moved to Rockford IL in 1882 and renamed Rockford Silver Plate Co. |
further marks in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
RAIMOND SILVER MFG CO - Chelsea, MA active in 1960s/1970s. Acquired W. & S. Blackington Co. in 1966. |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | RAND & CRANE |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | RANDAHL SHOP |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | C. RAY RANDALL & CO. |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | RANGER & THOMPSON |
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RAY SILVER CO Pewter manufacturer. A subsidiary of the Rockford Silver Plate Co |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | FRANK REBAJES |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | REDDALL & CO. INC. |
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REDFIELD & RICE, New York founded by James H. Redfield and James Rice. Part of its tools and of its employees went in 1873 to Derby Silver Co |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | REDLICH & CO |
further marks in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section |
REED & BARTON - Taunton MA Founded as Babbit & Crossman in 1824 REED & BARTON: HISTORY and DATE SYMBOLS FLATWARE PATTERNS |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | REEVES & SILLCOCKS |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | MARIA REGNIER |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | OTTO REICHARDT |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | FRIEDRICH R. REICHEL |
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REIFFEL & HUSTED - Chicago, IL A parnership of Reiffel family (Phillip 1883-1934, Reiffel 1885-1943 and Bernard 'Barney' 1887-1954) with John Husted (1889-1962). Active in 1923 at 206 S. Wabash Ave. Suppliers of silverware to Great Northern Railway (Saint Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington). |
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RELIANCE MFG CO A trade mark of Oneida Silversmiths |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | REVERE SILVER CO |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | REVERE SILVERSMITHS |
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BERNARD RICE'S SONS - New York Active at 542 Broadway (Showroom) 4-6 Marion St. & 187-189 Elm St. (Production), New York. The origins of the company date back to Ignatius Rice (b.1838 - d.1910) who in 1867 formed a partnership with his brother Bernard (b.1836 - d.1896). The partnership was dissolved in 1891 when Bernard entered in partnership with his eldest son Jacques (b.1869 - d.1935) forming Bernard Rice & Son. After the death of Bernard Rice, in 1897 was formed the new partnership Bernard Rice's Sons between Jacques and his brother Louis Rice (b.1872 - d.1933). In 1901 Apollo silver Co was a registered trade name owned by Rice brothers (Trow Directory, vol. 49, page 24). To the best of my knowledge, this is the first documented notice of the links between the Rices and Apollo, but some authors hypothesize that Apollo pre-existed and contributed to the creation of Rice company (unknown the source of this information). In c.1902 they created "Riceszinn", a metal alloy of secret composition which found great favour as its color wasn't affected by tarnishing. A variety of trade names was used on Bernard Rice's Sons silverware: L'AIGLON, LORALINE, BEAUXARDT, ETCHARDT, DUTCHARDT, SHADOW ARDT, PATRICIA, APOLLO STUDIO, B.R.S.CO, SKY SCRAPER, MARION PEWTER and, on sterling, APOLLO STERLING. The company went out of business June 1950. |
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RICHFIELD PLATE COMPANY A trademark of the Homan Manufacturing Co |
| Marks and information in AMERICAN STERLING SILVER section | RITTER & SULLIVAN |
| A trademark of A.R. JUSTICE & CO | RIVERTON SILVER 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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