posted 02-03-2002 10:47 AM            

Ludwig, Redlich & Co., later Redlich & Co., was formed in 1890 by Adolph Ludwig, former designer at Shiebler, and A. Alec Redlich, a diamond salesman. Ludwig left the company in 1895.

Today, Redlich silver is little known or appreciated, largely because A.) The trademark is easily confused with that used by Mauser, the Merrill Shops, etc., and B.) most of the Redlich silver on the market seems to have been designed in the post-1895 period, and it just isn't all that interesting.

Illustrated here is a piece from the early period, showing the continuity of design that Ludwig brought from Shiebler to his new company. This spoon is from the "RUSTICANA" line, a multi-motif, not-full-line pattern advertised by Ludwig, Redlich & Co. in 1891. This advertisement is mentioned in Katherine Morrison McClinton's book "Collecting American 19th Century Silver". Aside from a set of twelve fancy coffee spoons, each with a different handle, the line included berry, ice cream, jelly, bonbon and olive spoons, as well as salad and sardine sets. I believe this piece to be the berry spoon.

A recent article in Silver Magazine (Sept/Oct 2001) by Bill Hood, Charles Curb and John Olson, Part Two of "Dining With Bugs", illustrates two other pieces in the Rusticana line, matched with a very similar Shiebler piece. One bears the Redlich mark, while another has an unascribed fleur-de-lis mark. I might suggest that the fleur-de-lis mark was a mark for Ludwig, Redlich & Co., as opposed to Redlich & Co.'s Chimera mark.

Although the pieces illustrated in the article are fancier than mine, they do show a similarity of construction. The bowls are formed separately and attached to the twisted handle components. My piece has no further appliques, while the the pieces in the article have applied leaves and insects.

The handle on my piece matches up fairly well, but not precisely, with one of the twelve coffee spoons illustrated in McClinton's book, while the ones in the article do not at all. Still, the bugs in the article match one of the ones in the book.

This points out the fact that fancy pieces like this rarely came out exactly the same twice. The bench workers seem to have had some discretion in assembling items, so elements could be combined in a variety of ways. A further example of this is illustared in the Dr. Hood's article in the Jan/Feb 2002 issue of Silver, regarding his purchase of a Shiebler GRASS pattern sardine fork. The one he bought was supected of being a fake because it did not exactly match another "identical" fork. It has become clear that fancy pieces of this sort were assembled by hand, and that the assemblers were given leeway to produce items as they saw fit. In light of this, it might be wiser to suspect a "perfect match", rather than a piece that varies significantly from the "norm"!

Anyway, please forgive my long windedness. Do keep an eye out for Redlich silver though; it is a sleeper!

Brent

posted 11-09-2002 09:54 PM            

It is neat to see the salad set from this Rusticana line. I don't know about you, but I would love to see the sardine set and the sugar tongs!

posted 11-24-2002 04:13 PM            

Salt spoon:

Tea caddy spoon:

p.s. Cheryl & Richard, that's one nice salad set.

posted 02-24-2006 06:45 PM            

A graceful spoon, nearly a foot long:

posted 02-24-2006 06:58 PM            

Here is a heavier piece, with little sweet grapes, grapevine tendrils and a leaf. Also a foot long:

posted 03-17-2006 08:35 PM            

The object:

...and its mark:

I am tempted to say that this item dates from roughly the same period as the Redlich Rusticana pieces, or perhaps as much as a decade earlier (my immediate guess would have been ca. 1880).

In reply to hello's remarks below, I have re-sized this image... Please note that, as this is the only image I have available, the above is simply a zoomed-in and re-sized rendition of the earlier image. As a result, it will appear to be low-resolution.

posted 03-23-2006 06:50 PM            

quote:

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still difficult to tell even what the mark represents... Some marks books have a section for non-word marks.

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Nope, what you see is what you get. That's about as crisp and detailed a view as I could get with a loupe.

I really don't know what it's supposed to be... A hermit crab? A neglected glove? Who's to know?

Rainwater's illustrated index of unlettered marks is the first place I looked. No luck. Maybe it's a poor strike?

posted 09-08-2006 10:03 AM            

And here is a Redlich button hook in this style.

posted 05-13-2009 04:23 AM            

And just for the fun of it, here is a bit about the retailers Hyman, Berg & Co whose name appears in one of the images in this posting and who were no "small potatoes" in their day in Chicago: In 1868 Morris H Berg entered the Chicago firm of retail jewelers (Charles) Wendell & (Sigmund) Hyman which ultimately became Hyman, Berg & Co. (Morris's mother's maiden name was Hyman). Hyman, Berg & Co were in business from what is believed to be 1882 until 1930. However, according to what is written in the "The book of Chicagoans" By John W. Leonard, Albert Nelson Marquis(found online), a better year for the firm ending might be 1910. The 1882 date is reasonable only because Morris H Berg would have been about twenty-nine years of age then, but there is nothing that I have found so far that totally convinces me of that year.

In the 1890's the principals of the company were Harry S and Edward Hyman (Sigmunds sons) and Morris H Berg. The book of Chicagoans makes the point that in 1910 the two jewelry firms Hyman & Co and Berg & Co went into business.

It is interesting to see how many items there are online that are described as having been made by Hyman, Berg & Co. I believe they were major retailers who like other prestigious and or marketing savvy retailers had manufacturers put private labels on their goods which may cause some of the confusion.

posted 05-14-2009 09:04 AM            

In 1881 their business appeared in the Cleveland City Directory at 255 Superior; they were manufacturing jewelers, retailers, and wholesalers. The Brunner Bros, wholesale jewelers, were listed at 53 Euclid in the 1902 Cleveland Business Directory.

posted 01-27-2016 05:29 PM            

Six of the demitasse spoons have matte, gilded bowls (most of the gilding is worn away). One of them, which I bought separately, has a smooth bowl with no gilding. (It's the one with the two oval/pointed leaves on the end.) And I just bought the berry spoon in an online auction--apologies if I beat any of you in the bidding! (The seller described the marks and wrote, "I am not familiar with these marks but you silver experts will know exactly what it is." I was hoping he'd be wrong, but the bidding got a bit lively at the end--I'm guessing at least one other bidder had read this thread.)

Berry spoon marks:

Demitasse marks:

posted 01-27-2016 05:35 PM            

Also, maybe the spoon I'm calling a berry spoon is really a bonbon spoon? Anyone want to guess?

posted 01-28-2016 10:45 AM            

Here's a Shiebler shoe horn that looks like it might have been designed by the same person, doesn't it?

Also, I was so excited about my new spoon that I took photos in the last tiny bit of afternoon light; here it is in better light:

posted 02-10-2016 11:11 AM            

Back, showing marks, with one of the demitasse spoons for size:

posted 05-20-2016 01:03 PM            

Back, showing the chimera mark:

posted 02-17-2017 05:06 PM            

-A Ludwig, Redlich & Co sugar sifter or tea strainer
-Another Ludwig, Redlich & Co demitasse spoon
-An OMG SO ADORABLE!!! Shiebler salt dish with salt spoon

posted 02-17-2017 05:13 PM            

This was one of my Finds--the seller didn't recognize the mark and just thought it was a cute vintage salt dish and spoon.

Finds like that are getting rarer in this pattern--I blame this thread. (The strainer/sifter and the new demitasse spoon were also finds in the sense that the sellers didn't know much about them or recognize the marks, they just recognized them as nice pieces of silver.)

posted 02-17-2017 05:24 PM            

Sifter/strainer:

Salt dish & spoon:

Demitasse:

posted 05-25-2017 06:36 PM            

quote:

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One year and seven months ago the firm of Ludwig, Red1ich & Co. was organized and a small office and factory opened at 247 Centre St., New York, where, with a force of eight men, the entire business of the concern was transacted. The members of the firm were well known in trade, both having been identified with it for many years. Adolph Ludwig had for nine years previous been an expert designer of silverware for Geo. W. Shiebler, now the Geo. W. Shiebler Co., and his products had commanded admiration wherever shown. A. Alec. Redlich, his partner, had spent the greater portion of his life in the diamond business, and had an extended acquaintance in the retail trade. A few months after the firm started, an office was opened at 45 Maiden Lane, where the goods were shown. Last May, the rapidly increasing business necessitated larger show rooms, | and the office now occupied by the firm in 1 Silversmiths’ Hall, Union Square, New York, was taken and fitted in an attractive manner. A month later the factory was moved from Centre St. to 351 and 353 Jay St., Brooklyn, where 6,250 square feet of space is now occupied by the machinery of the concern, and in the busy season too hands are employed.

The trade mark of the firm, —a ferocious appearing swimming lion— was recently adopted and will hereafter be seen on all their goods. Among the products that the firm has introduced with much success during its short existence is the Rusticana line of spoons, made to represent various flowers, the handles being the branches and twigs, and the bowls the leaves. The ornamentation's of the tableware of the house consists principally of applied work and is exceedingly artistic. Dishes of repouss6 work in exclusive designs and the Florentine line of mirrors are among the attractive samples now being shown by the firm.

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posted 05-26-2017 11:08 AM            

quote:

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247 Centre St
Little Italy
New York, NY, 10013

Built in 1900 this 30,718 sq.ft. building is 59% Office Space, 16% Retail, 7% Storage, 19% Other and contains 0 residential units and 19 non-residential units.

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