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tline3open  Horace Potter, Cleveland silversmith

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Author Topic:   Horace Potter, Cleveland silversmith
Ulysses Dietz
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iconnumber posted 12-20-2000 02:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ulysses Dietz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'd love to find out what pieces of Potter Studio silver people might know of. Very little is published on Potter, and I wonder if there are things in collections 'out there' that people are willing to share.

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Scott Martin
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Posts: 11520
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iconnumber posted 12-20-2000 02:55 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Have you tried contacting the family business in Cleveland?

At their [gone from the internet - pottermellen.com/History/history.html]website they have published some family history and a photo of Horance.

On their [gone from the internet - pottermellen.com/Jewelry/jewelry.html]jewelry page you will see some reproductions of original HP designs.

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FredZ

Posts: 1070
Registered: Jun 99

iconnumber posted 05-01-2001 03:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FredZ     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I am in the process of paying on a copper box by Potter Studio, It is wood lined (no doubt for cigarettes) and has a stone set in a bezel. I will send images when I can.

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Ulysses Dietz
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iconnumber posted 06-08-2001 09:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ulysses Dietz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Potter & Mellen firm in Cleveland doesn't really know much--it has changed hands several times, and it is a very fine but essentially unconnected retailer now.

The Brooklyn Museum and The Newark Museum recently purchased a unique and marvelous pair of large oval silver boxes by Horace Potter, each with a large enamel plaque of red (rhododendron?) blossoms on the lid. The Box measures 8" long and 5"deep.

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June Martin
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Posts: 1326
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iconnumber posted 06-10-2001 08:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for June Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just had a few minutes to spare and started browsing our copy of The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of American Silver. I came across a few pieces attributed to Doris Collin Foster who worked as a craftsperson for the Potter & Mellon firm. The pieces in the catalog don't make reference to any maker's mark associated with Ms. Foster. Does anyone know if she did mark her pieces? What is the mark for Potter & Mellen?

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Scott Martin
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iconnumber posted 06-10-2001 09:54 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
June -

Last week I asked Ulysses for a photo of the Potter mark. Here is his reply:

quote:
The mark is on the bottom, and needs no picture: it is simply:

POTTER
STUDIO

incuse, small scale.



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FredZ

Posts: 1070
Registered: Jun 99

iconnumber posted 06-11-2001 11:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for FredZ     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have sent images of two Potter Studio copper boxes with marks, to Scott I don't know if he is able to receive his email and if he will be able to post them soon.. I can send them to another if someone else can post them to this sight.

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Scott Martin
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iconnumber posted 06-11-2001 10:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I hadn't received Fred's e-mail so when I saw his post I let him know and he sent these along.

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Brent

Posts: 1507
Registered: May 99

iconnumber posted 07-03-2001 06:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Brent     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Two observations:

1.) There is also some pewter out there from the Potter Studio. I recall seeing a nice footed cup in the Colonial Revival style by them, with the same mark.

2.) A few years ago I saw a nice, cheap Potter Studio bar spoon which I passed up because I was unfamiliar with the name and it was not marked sterling. I later found it in a dealer's booth, with a substantial markup. I am certain it was sterling, but it is strange to find an American piece without STERLING on it somewhere. Has anyone else encountered this?

Brent

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wev
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Posts: 4121
Registered: Apr 99

iconnumber posted 07-03-2001 07:29 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for wev     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Nice to hear from you Brent --

I haven't seen anything like that from Potter, but my uncle has a lovely A&C/moderne hammered martini pitcher marked with the Dirk Van Erp house mark used when his son was running the company. There are no other marks, but it is sterling (there is a deep cut on the bottom -- the previous owner made strong use of it! - an it shows clean metal throughout.

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Brent

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iconnumber posted 07-04-2001 11:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Brent     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
It is good to be back.

Be very careful with Dirk Van Erp marked silver. I don't doubt your conclusion about the pitcher, but Michael Van Erp made a lot of silver plate bearing his father's mark. If it is not marked sterling, I would be very cautious.

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Ulysses Dietz
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Posts: 1265
Registered: May 99

iconnumber posted 07-09-2001 09:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ulysses Dietz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The two silver boxes by Potter are not marked STERLING, just POTTER STUDIO, as on the copper one shown.

My understanding is that Dirk Van Erp made no silver at all, and that all of the silver with the Van Erp shop mark is by his son. We just purchased (in 2000) a Van Erp art deco coffee set, that is very much NOT Dirk's aesthetic (which was quite dead by the late 1920s).

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FredZ

Posts: 1070
Registered: Jun 99

iconnumber posted 08-04-2003 11:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for FredZ     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I just acquired a rather heavy handwrought sterling serving spoon marked POTTER STUDIO & not marked STERLING. I promise to provide images once I learn how to use the ISP space provided to me.

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Anuh

Posts: 190
Registered: Jan 2003

iconnumber posted 08-19-2003 07:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Anuh     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by FredZ:
I just acquired a rather heavy handwrought sterling serving spoon marked POTTER STUDIO & not marked STERLING. I promise to provide images once I learn how to use the ISP space provided to me.

From the FTC website in reference to the laws on the use of the word sterling:

>>§ 23.6 Misrepresentation as to silver content.

(a) It is unfair or deceptive to misrepresent that an industry product contains silver, or to misrepresent an industry product as having a silver content, plating, electroplating, or coating.

(b) It is unfair or deceptive to mark, describe (my emphasis), or otherwise represent all or part of an industry product as "silver," "solid silver," "Sterling Silver," "Sterling," or the abbreviation "Ster." unless it is at least 925/1,000ths pure silver.<<

Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries
Effective April 10, 2001

I hope I coded the link correctly so you can go and read it yourself.

I don't remember when The National Stamping Act became law, but that is what required the use of the word sterling, or the designation 925/1000 on all silver containing a "sterling content"! ;-D

------------------
Anuh

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rat

Posts: 63
Registered: Jan 2001

iconnumber posted 10-26-2003 08:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for rat     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I have a pair of simple Sterling Potter Studio cufflinks on my website. They are only marked POTTER STUDIO. No sterling mark, but they are silver and are likely Sterling. I have also seen some Potter Studio jewelry (a pair of cufflinks and I think a ring) executed in 14K gold with cabochon stones.

I don't know how to post an image, but the link to the picture is:

- Ramona

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June Martin
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Posts: 1326
Registered: Apr 93

iconnumber posted 09-01-2008 10:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for June Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here is a Potter Studio tomato server. No sterling mark but it is.

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bascall

Posts: 1629
Registered: Nov 99

iconnumber posted 09-01-2008 02:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for bascall     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here's a site that references a Silver Magazine article, May/June 2005 author Leslie Marting: Potter
Maybe it's old news, but it seems fitting for this thread.

[This message has been edited by bascall (edited 09-01-2008).]

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