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tline3open  Patent 1863 G.S. -- George Sharp marks?

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Author Topic:   Patent 1863 G.S. -- George Sharp marks?
smfc75

Posts: 122
Registered: Mar 2002

iconnumber posted 05-03-2002 01:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for smfc75     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have some spoons marked "PATENT 1863 G.S. STERLING". Rainwater (fourth edition) shows a spoon similar in style under the description of George Sharp but shows a different mark (lion S lion).

Was "G.S." another mark used by Geo. Sharp?

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Brent

Posts: 1507
Registered: May 99

iconnumber posted 05-03-2002 09:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Brent     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes it was!

Brent

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Scott Martin
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Posts: 11520
Registered: Apr 93

iconnumber posted 05-03-2002 09:50 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
When the mark is found as you have described, it is most often associated with George Sharp. G. S. has also been used by others so it is important to consider the designed and the G. S. mark together. George Sharp's designs are usually identifiable because of his unique style. He is one of my favorites.

Here is the mark as found on some George Sharp nut picks.


And here is the George Sharp pseudo mark:

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Paul Lemieux

Posts: 1792
Registered: Apr 2000

iconnumber posted 05-03-2002 04:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul Lemieux     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
George Sharp's 3D ball, dome, etc. patterns are very cool.

To make matters more confusing, there was also a George Sharpe, a retailer, I believe, who worked at about the same time.

[This message has been edited by Paul Lemieux (edited 05-03-2002).]

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smfc75

Posts: 122
Registered: Mar 2002

iconnumber posted 05-03-2002 09:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for smfc75     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I checked on the "patent 1863" and found that no design patents for flatware were issued in 1863.

However, there is a design patent no. 1880 dated January 5, 1864 for George Sharp. The patent shows a drawing for an "ornamental design for the ends of handles of spoons, etc."

The description reads, in part: "The nature of my invention or production consists in finishing the extreme outer ends of the shank handles of spoons, ladles, scoops, shovels, knives, forks, crumb scrapers, call bells, nut picks, and such other articles of table use as require shank handles, each in the ornamental globular form herein described and shown. The drawing represents a chicken salad spoon having my ornamental design - the ball or sphere A applied thereto. The ball A, is, in this instance, attached to the end of the handle, a1, by means of a neck piece a2, consisting of a cavetto scotia, and fillets: and has attached to its opposite side a very much smaller ball a3. The surface of the ball or sphere A, is also represented in the drawing as being smooth or even, but, it is my intention to make the surface either plain or ornate, as may be preferred."

The drawing of the shank is the same as on the nut pick shown above.

[This message has been edited by smfc75 (edited 05-03-2002).]

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Scott Martin
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Registered: Apr 93

iconnumber posted 05-04-2002 02:04 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Brent received this from smfc75 and requested that I post it for everyone to see.

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M H Bradshaw

Posts: 32
Registered: Apr 99

iconnumber posted 05-11-2002 01:03 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for M H Bradshaw     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'd love to see the drawing of a chicken salad spoon described in the patent, if you have it (I'm assuming the photo is of the spoons in your possession). I collect weird serving pieces - and I've never heard of a chicken salad spoon! Does the drawing give any reference to size?

[This message has been edited by M H Bradshaw (edited 05-11-2002).]

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smfc75

Posts: 122
Registered: Mar 2002

iconnumber posted 05-11-2002 04:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for smfc75     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The patent drawing has no dimensions on it. The piercings in the drawing look like those on macaroni servers, but the bowl is very shallow. My guess is that the drawing shows a serving piece -- can you imagine trying to eat out of the spoon shown?

I'll forward a copy of the drawing so that it can be posted.

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Scott Martin
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iconnumber posted 05-11-2002 09:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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M H Bradshaw

Posts: 32
Registered: Apr 99

iconnumber posted 05-12-2002 10:46 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for M H Bradshaw     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for sharing. If I ever see one of these beautiful spoons, I'll be sure to remember its use. Judging by the relatively light weight of other serving spoons I've seen in this pattern, I can't imagine that the teeth, for lack of a better term, stood up to heavy use in something as dense as chicken salad.

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June Martin
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iconnumber posted 05-12-2002 11:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for June Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think the chicken salad one would have eaten in 1866 is very different than the chicken salad we're familiar with today. Here is a chicken salad recipe from Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management from 1869:

Ingredients
Remains of cold roast or boiled chicken
2 lettuces
a little endive
1 cucumber
a few slices of boiled beetroot
salad dressing

Trim the chicken remains; wash, dry and slice the lettuces and place in the middle of a dish; put the pieces of chicken on top and pour salad dressing over them. Garnish edge of salad with hard boiled eggs cuts in rings, sliced cucumber and boiled beetroot cut in slices. Serves 4 or 5 people

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Paul S

Posts: 32
Registered: Dec 2000

iconnumber posted 05-30-2002 09:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Paul S     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just purchased 3 pieces of George Sharp. The ball ends are a dead give away and I think they're really cool. All three pieces are marked just like the nut picks Scott has listed but two of the pieces are also stamped "W. GALE JR". Can anyone tell me the connection between William Gale and George Sharp? From what I can determine both were silversmiths, but was Gale also a retailer?

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bascall

Posts: 1629
Registered: Nov 99

iconnumber posted 07-12-2008 01:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for bascall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:

To make matters more confusing, there was also a George Sharpe, a retailer, I believe, who worked at about the same time.

A possible match for this gentlemen appears in the 1870 U S Federal Census for Atlanta, Georgia.

However, given the incidents recounted in the October 20, 1902 Atlanta Constitution about George Sharpe's behaviour in the 1870's and '80's as a Whitehall Street jeweler, there's is little that is believeable about the man except that he appears to have been a confidence man.

His ploy, so the paper records, was to borrow money using his stock as collateral and little by little over the course of several years he would borrow his collateral back under the pretense of having opportunities to make substantial sales until finally he was able to get his lenders to give him all of his stock back without ever paying off his loans, and at that point he "disappeared."

[This message has been edited by bascall (edited 07-12-2008).]

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ahwt

Posts: 2334
Registered: Mar 2003

iconnumber posted 07-15-2008 06:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ahwt     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
George Sharp, Jr. was born in Virginia and apprenticed with silversmith Robert Brown in Baltimore for seven years. He was in Danville, Kentucky by 1857 and in the 1860 census was listed as a jeweler and watchmaker. He arrived in Atlanta in 1864 and owned a liquor store for a few years. By 1869 he advertised as a jeweler and watchmaker and his advertisements noted that many of his wares were made by Gorham. Later he advertised that Krider and Biddle made objects for him and that his engraver had experience with Tiffany’s and “Knider and Biddle” [sic]. He left Atlanta shortly after the economic panic of 1877 and his shop was seized by creditors.
The above is from “Silver in Georgia – From Sideboard to Pulpit” by Ashley Callahan

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ahwt

Posts: 2334
Registered: Mar 2003

iconnumber posted 07-16-2008 09:36 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ahwt     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
An example of the George Sharp, Jr. mark is shown at Item number: 260259621028 under the completed auctions in the coin silver section of eBay. I suspect that this Sharp may be considered a bit of a carpetbagger and scoundrel and that is reflected in the price that his articles bring.

Boultinghouse notes that Sharp brought T. R. J. Ayres business and advertised thereafter that he was the successor to Mr. Ayres. When Mr. Ayres returned to Louisville in 1860-61 he was upset that Sharp was posing as his successor. The two publicly aired their disagreements in the Kentucky Tribune of March 1, 1861. It does seem that trouble followed George Sharp, Jr.

I understand that a new book is in the works for Kentucky and that the searching digitized newspapers databases has made research in this area much faster. Does anyone know who offers these databases and the cost to access them?

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ellabee

Posts: 306
Registered: Dec 2007

iconnumber posted 10-21-2008 03:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ellabee     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
What is the documentary basis for George Sharp having removed to Danville, Kentucky and Atlanta?

The patent papers show him as still being in Philadelphia in 1864. If he was a sharp operator (pun intended), he might have lied on the patent documents, but why?

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ellabee

Posts: 306
Registered: Dec 2007

iconnumber posted 10-21-2008 03:49 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ellabee     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Ah; never mind. In this thread (Abner Reeves) from 2006 Fitzhugh confirms my suspicion that there are two George Sharps, and that the one associated with Bailey & Co. remained in Philadelphia.

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