Open, oval cylindrical piercework salt on four ball feet with a clear, cobalt blue glass liner. Flat frame for bottom is struck on underside between two feet "EPNS" to the left of three marks, a Prince of Wales feathers, a gondolier in gondola, and the raised gothic or Old English letters "D", "&", "S", all in individual clipped-corner surrounds; "3548" is stamped between the opposite two feet.
Maker is Deykin & Sons at the Venetian Works, Birmingham, England; partnership active, 1854-1895, and specialized in producing electroplated wares which they marketed as Venetian Silver.
Stove-top waffle iron consisting of a low, circular base with a curved, open teardrop-shaped handle that holds a pair of removable, circular plates connected by a three-knuckle hinge and patterned with a four-quadrant grid of squares. Notches in base allow the plates to be flipped and rotated 180 degrees. No marks.
Flattened oval flask or pocket bottle with low relief, Nouveau-style japanesque designs of flowers and trailing streamers on both sides, the front additionally engraved "CB" in conjoined shaded script; topped by a twist-lock, mushroom- or button-shaped hinged cap. Neck exterior is struck incuse with a left-facing winged lion passant holding a "W" in oval, "STERLING" in sans serif letters, and "2345".
Gravy or sauce ladle with a circular bowl deeply grooved along its center and everted at back ends of its rim; downturned rounded handle with midrib on back. Front of handle features an asymmetrical bright cut design of two angled patterned bands below three circular flowers and a drooping branch; inside of bowl has two five-petaled flowers on stems, diaper patterning, and wrigglework outlines. No marks.
Rectangular, hinged-lid shellwork box with flat bottom; no base. Lid and all four sides of box are covered in red grained paper and encrusted with seashells, including a cowrie at top, sunrise tellin on front, blue mussels on sides, three rows of coquinas across back and iridescent periwinkles along edges. Lid and box interior are lined with glossy, vibrant pink paper; the lid fitted with a mirror framed by cable- or rope-bordered gilt paper and the box divided into seven compartments, including a red silk velvet-covered pincushion at back center. No marks.
Stove-top waffle iron consisting of a low, circular base with a raised-edge, open teardrop-shaped handle that holds a pair of removable, circular plates connected by a three-knuckle hinge and patterned with radiating, raised diamonds divided into four quadrants. Notches in base allow plates to be flipped and rotated 180 degrees. No marks.
Rounded rectangular case engraved overall with a dense network of bright-cut tropical leaves and five-petaled whorled flowers (possibly plumeria) with wrigglework between. Interior has two, white, elastic band retainers. Circular push-button catch. Inside back is struck with the raised Cyrillic letters "Д·Н" in a rectangle and a combined standard and city mark of "84" and St. George slaying the dragon in a conforming surround; inside lid is struck with assayer's mark "А·А / 1891", "84", and St. George slaying the dragon, all in clipped-corner surrounds with "Д·Н" in a rectangle at right.
Handless, tapered cylindrical cup or tumbler commemorating the Spanish-American War of 1898, with a low-relief portrait of Admiral (then Commodore) George Dewey "THE HERO OF MANILA" on one side and a perspective view of the battleship USS Maine in Havana Harbor on the other, separated by smaller portraits of Naval officers Schley, Sampson, Hobson, and Watson, and Army Generals Miles and Schafter. Plain rim and base; inset, slightly convex bottom has circular copyright stamp on underside.
Hollow-handled cheese ball holder or server with three adjustable clamping arms enclosing a small, slightly concave circular tray on a dome base edged in roses and ruffled leaves. The arms fit through three holes in the neck below tray and are attached to a screw knob mechanism on the underside that opens and closes them. Screw knob is struck incuse "QUADRUPLE PLATE" in serif letters above a circular crossed-hammers mark for "WILCOX SILVER PLATE C\o." with crossed raising hammers at center, the number "40" and "PATENTED" below.
Maker is Wilcox Silver Plate Co. of Meriden, CT. The firm was founded as Wilcox Britannia Co. in 1865, and changed its name to Wilcox Silver Plate Co. in 1867. It was one of the founding members of International Silver Co. in 1898; Insilco continued to use the Wilcox name and trademark until circa 1961 when the line was consolidated with E. G. Webster & Son (purchased by Insilco in 1928) into Webster-Wilcox.
Seth W. Babbitt of Meriden, CT, assignor to the Wilcox Plate Co. received U.S. Patent No. 453,571 on June 2, 1891 for "improvements in table articles designed to receive and securely hold cheeses of the kind particularly known as Edam and Pine-Apple".
Slim, rectangular, aqua guilloche enamel case with snap-closure, hinged lid featuring a polychrome enamel painting of an amorous couple in a pastoral landscape with grassy banks, blue water and distant mountains, the man with string instrument on his back embraces the dishevelled shepherdess; thin, bright-cut border. Tab at front center of lid. Gold washed interior. Inside bottom is struck incuse at top "MADE IN AUSTRIA" arched over "AK / 925" in an irregular pentagon, and "STERLING" and "SILVER", all in sans serif letters; inside lid and bottom are stamped "2" near hinge.
Fretwork wall shelf consisting of a serpentine-front shelf with perpendicular bracket, both screwed into slots on a sawn, symmetrical back panel featuring an openwork, S- and C-scroll design ending in a lancet finial at top and tripartite drop at bottom; bracket pattern matches those at sides. No marks.
Dinner knife, part of a matching set (see 1986.0531.050 fork). Straight steel blade with rounded tip. Blade, bolster, and tang are one piece of steel. Horn scales are riveted to the top and bottom of the tang with brass pins to form a tapered block handle with chamfered edges and blunt butt. Blade is scratched and discolored, tang is rusted. Horn is scratched, cracked and chipped around edges, separated from tang.
Blade is stamped: “H. G. L & Co/SHEFFIELD”
Maker is H. G. Long & Company, active in Sheffield, England ca 1846-present (now a division of H. M. Slater).
Dinner fork, part of a matching set (see 1986.0531.049 knife). Three-tined with a baluster stem. Tines, stem, and tang are one piece of steel. Horn scales are riveted to the top and bottom of the tang with brass pins to form a tapered block handle with chamfered edges and blunt butt. Steel is discolored, rusted near handle. Horn is cracked, chipped, and worn around edges and separated from tang.
Underside of stem is stamped: “STEEL”
Blade of accompanying knife is stamped: “H. G. L & Co/SHEFFIELD”
Maker is H. G. Long & Company, active in Sheffield, England ca 1846-present (now a division of H. M. Slater).
Dinner fork, part of a matching set (see 1986.0531.047 knife). Two-tined dinner fork with baluster stem. Tines, stem, and tang are one piece. Horn scales are riveted to the top and bottom of the tang with brass pins to form a tapered block handle with chamfered edges and blunt butt. Tines are discolored and scratched, horn is cracked and chipped around edges. No mark.
Blade of accompanying knife is stamped: “SANDERSON/SHEARSTEEL”
Maker is possibly the Sanderson Brothers, active ca 1829-[unknown] in Sheffield, England.