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Later Additions to an Early Piece

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Author	Topic: Later Additions to an Early Piece
avalata Posts: 61 Registered: Feb 2003	posted 07-22-2003 11:00 PM Hello, I have an earlier piece of holloware, a goblet to be exact, which has handles on it that I am sure are later additions. They are soldered on and so far as I can tell the piece itself was not altered to accomodate them. Can anyone offer an opinion as to the advisability of having them removed, and the risks, depending on the type of solder used, etc.? I would not want to disturb the piece if significant scarring would be involved. Thanks! IP: Logged
swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 Registered: May 2003	posted 08-03-2003 01:04 PM Cliff: I would think it might be easier for someone to form an opinion that might be helpful if you were to post a picture of the piece and some information on the maker. Stuart IP: Logged
FredZ Posts: 1070 Registered: Jun 99	posted 08-03-2003 09:24 PM An image and mark would be helpful in determining if it is advisable to remove the handles. It is always risky when restoring an item. It is not easily to determine what temperature of solder was used to apply the handles. It is assumed that a lower temp would have been used since it was applied to a finished item. If the area of attachment is small the handles can be cut off and then the remainder carefully filed and finished to match the original surface. Fred IP: Logged
avalata Posts: 61 Registered: Feb 2003	posted 08-03-2003 09:53 PM Hi, Here is a photo of the piece; the maker is Thomas Warner of Baltimore. I have been told the handles may not be a later addition but as I've seen several goblets by the Warners like this but without handles, and the style seems a bit off, I am not sure. Thanks, Cliff IP: Logged
avalata Posts: 61 Registered: Feb 2003	posted 08-03-2003 10:02 PM Here are some other pics, including one of the marks. Thanks! IP: Logged
swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 Registered: May 2003	posted 08-21-2003 07:07 PM Unless I could find the same handle castings used in another period, I think I'd let it be. I should think it not unreasonable for a worker to make the same form with and without the handles, when the style works both ways, as this does for me. Even if not original, it doessn't seem objectionable and is part of the history of the piece. There is some risk in desoldering, and probable that there might be visible signs of removal, however slight, which might prove more damaging than leaving them in place, since someone in the future might think original handles had been removed! Just my opinion. IP: Logged
akgdc Posts: 289 Registered: Sep 2001	posted 08-22-2003 01:11 AM I'd beg to differ, on stylistic grounds. Those handles are not at all suited to a Baltimore neoclassical goblet. They look like cheap imitations of something Spanish colonial. Putting them on was like slapping a fake-adobe facade on an elegant Federal townhouse -- they don't just blemish its considerable beauty, they make it somewhat ridiculous. So I'd definitely have a good silversmith carefully remove them. In any event, the goblet has already been altered, so even if the solder leaves some kind of mark, it's not like you are marring a virgin piece. In any case -- nice find, Cliff. IP: Logged
bascall Posts: 1629 Registered: Nov 99	posted 11-22-2008 12:49 AM George Dugan married Eliza Chase in 1805 in Baltimore. Eliza Dugan was born in 1806. This could be a gift to Eliza from her grandmother Hannah Kitty Chase. IP: Logged

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