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doc

Posts: 728
Registered: Jul 2003

iconnumber posted 11-01-2009 02:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for doc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
[01-2764]

I recently acquired a Gorham sterling souvenir spoon. It has a great scene of a stone bridge with a village in the background; unfortunately, there's no information on the spoon as to where the scene is located.

Anyone have any ideas?

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agleopar

Posts: 850
Registered: Jun 2004

iconnumber posted 11-02-2009 08:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for agleopar     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Doc I know it probably wont help but can we see the rest of it? Just to get the feel of it... also can you get the village straight on?

It is a good mystery and fun to try to puzzle it out.

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Scott Martin
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Posts: 11520
Registered: Apr 93

iconnumber posted 11-02-2009 09:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It's kind of hard to make out the details...

I see the bridge or footbridge but I can't tell if it is over land or a river. I would guess it is a river. The perspective is looking up at the bridge with the village in the distance under the bridge.

The details of the village are not clear. A closer view of the village might help.

The bridge reminds me (sort of) of the overpasses I have seen when driving on the Merit Parkway in Connecticut.

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doc

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iconnumber posted 11-03-2009 05:33 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for doc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here are some additional photos. As you can see, the photo of the whole spoon doesn't help much-no writing whatsoever on the handle. This was the best I could do on the close up of the village; under a loupe it shows that it's a large factory facility with a dam across the river (which means that this is ending up in my husband's collection of hydroelectric related antiques!).

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agleopar

Posts: 850
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iconnumber posted 11-03-2009 05:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for agleopar     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Mills in Waltham, Mass. next to the Charles river??

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jersey

Posts: 1203
Registered: Feb 2005

iconnumber posted 11-04-2009 09:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jersey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hi!
Perhaps one of our members has a Gorham catalogue of souvenir spoons. You might also look at Echo Lake bridge in Mass.

Jersey

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Dale

Posts: 2132
Registered: Nov 2002

iconnumber posted 11-04-2009 11:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dale     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The spoon is hand done, showing a good mastery of engraving. Transfering a flat picture to a concave bowl without loosing perspective is also tricky. This was done by a highly skilled worker.

Spoons of this type were frequently made by local jewelers, either to order or showing local sites of interest. Which is why there are so many one of a kind spoons available.

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agleopar

Posts: 850
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iconnumber posted 11-05-2009 08:00 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for agleopar     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Dale I wondered if it was engraved? I can not tell from the image perhaps Doc can? It is so detailed that I thought it might be acid etched and so a production spoon not a one off?

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swarter
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Posts: 2920
Registered: May 2003

iconnumber posted 11-05-2009 12:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for swarter     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
If this is a copy of an existing print or etching, rather than someone's original work on the bowl, a search for the image from which it was taken might be the way to go.

[This message has been edited by swarter (edited 11-05-2009).]

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doc

Posts: 728
Registered: Jul 2003

iconnumber posted 11-05-2009 01:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for doc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am not sure I would be able to tell the difference between hand engraved and acid etching, so if you have any hints, I'll gladly follow up. I have been looking for a photo that might match this scene; it's not an atypical one in New England, except for maybe the bridge.

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Dale

Posts: 2132
Registered: Nov 2002

iconnumber posted 11-05-2009 07:03 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dale     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Acid etching does not produce the crisp, sharp, v shaped incisions shown on the building outlines. From the picture, the cuts into the silver show different depths, which is a sign of engraving. Anyone else have ideas on this?

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agleopar

Posts: 850
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iconnumber posted 11-05-2009 07:06 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for agleopar     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Doc acid etching has rough edges that look like they were eaten in layers and hand engraving is tiny V cuts that are in straight lines or curved lines. If you look with a strong loupe you should be able to see which it is.

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doc

Posts: 728
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iconnumber posted 11-10-2009 09:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for doc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I had misplaced my loupe and just found it. The design is definitely hand done.

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agleopar

Posts: 850
Registered: Jun 2004

iconnumber posted 11-10-2009 09:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for agleopar     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Dale called it;
"Spoons of this type were frequently made by local jewelers, either to order or showing local sites of interest. Which is why there are so many one of a kind spoons available."

But it seems to be such a unlikely subject for all that effort - the bridge is plain and the mills/hydro on the river could be 1000 places... Why wasn't the name engraved also?

It is a tiny puzzle that is barely worth any effort but as I drive through New England (not often these days) I will be looking at the bridges.

Possible Places: Fall River,RI - Shelburn Falls, MA - Lowell, MA

[This message has been edited by agleopar (edited 11-10-2009).]

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Dale

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iconnumber posted 11-10-2009 05:13 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dale     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Hydroelectic does not seem like an odd subject. I have seen spoons that pictured: Homes for the Feeble Minded, State Prisons, County Poor Farms, electric plants, factories, farm implements, sewer treatment plants, pretty much anything that would show the up to date, scientific attitude of the Victorians. This spoon celebrates progress. The rarest type shows an execution, a body hanging from a gallows.

Souvenir spoons seem to have been also used to teach apprentices engraving.

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doc

Posts: 728
Registered: Jul 2003

iconnumber posted 11-10-2009 06:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for doc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think that either the bridge or the factory is the subject; the hydro dam would have been part of the factory, providing the power to operate it.

I will be keeping my eye out as well. For what it is worth, I got the spoon in upstate NY, so it may be someplace nearby.

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