posted 01-22-2018 11:53 PM            

Howdy,

Excited to be here.

I have been infested with the silver bug for about three years now.

Just this last week I rescued this little plate from an internet ash heap for scrap prices.

I have conducted fairly exhaustive research and I think it is Tiffany from 1897. What do you think?

I was a little on the fence because the detail is not quite up to snuff with a lot of Tiffany wares but then another of this same pattern came up on flea-bay (I hang out on a pearl forum as well and that's what it's called over there LOL) just a couple of days ago with a pattern number that dates to the same year as this one (again, 1897).

So, here are photos, what say you?

Also what do you think this was? I feel like it's slightly too large to be a bread and butter plate but maybe not..? It's about 5 inches across.

SORRY here are the photos again:

[This message has been edited by SilverLiningPockets (edited 02-01-2018).]

posted 02-02-2018 07:12 PM            

What is the diameter of the plate? If it is about 6 inches give or take then it was likely sold as a bread and butter plate, but the nice thing about silver these days is that you can use your silver for whatever purpose you like and enjoy it. If it is a bread and butter plate then you would expect to have a set of either 8 or 12 or possibly even 16 of them in your service.

There is an enormous amount of fake Tiffany on the market and especially on the big auction website so I cannot comment on whether this one is real or fake. From the images you have posted my first impression is that it looks real but the fakers have become so expert these days that it would take someone knowledgeable to hold it in their hands to be able to say for sure.

It is in pretty rough condition sadly. An expert silversmith could likely bring it back to what it should be but it would cost a fair amount since you would be paying an exceptionally skilled artist to work on it for a fair amount of time. And there are not many silversmiths with that level of skill left in the world.

posted 02-06-2018 09:27 AM            

Check out the before and after:

I tried to align them as closely as possible. Obviously the dents are still there but I think it looks a heck of a lot nicer. Can I ask too, what is best practice when polishing a scroll? Up to the edge or leave a border of patina?

Thanks again, and thanks for your input Kimo!

posted 02-07-2018 03:27 AM            

And Ashe thanks, I didn't clean/polish the edges (or back for that matter) at all so I will give it a quick once over. I was really afraid of "accidentally" negating every bit of patina but you have given me a mote of confidence. Thank you.