posted 07-25-2010 04:35 PM            

Here's a single page from the catalog showing its handmade silver:

Here's the pitcher shown on the left side of the photo:

And another nice handmade Hyman pitcher (not shown):

The quality of Hyman pieces was mostly on a par with Kalo, Lebolt, and Randahl objects from the same period.

posted 07-25-2010 06:26 PM            

And here's a variation on the pitcher with the looping handle:

posted 09-18-2010 01:05 PM            

Second, the early 20th century Chicago silver world was a small one. Silversmiths went from one firm to another, or left larger companies to start their own small studios, or freelanced. As you pointed out, some of these made objects that other firms sold. These sometimes had dual marks, or no maker's marks at all.

Finally, the records for these early makers are few and far between, so it's often hard to tell who made what. I suspect Hyman made their own items and also sold the work of other makers.

It's disturbing to think that so much important reference material was thrown out. Here's something from the Smithsonian Institution's (SIRIS) entry on Arthur Stone:

"When Stone sold his shop to Heywood, he included the records to insure the continuity of the work. Stone retained records relating to his early work. These were donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by Stone's family. According to Stone's niece, Elenita Chickering, who processed the papers, approximately 3 trunks of accounts and letters were destroyed in the 1940s by Stone's widow, Elizabeth Bent, to insure client's anonymity."