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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 Nathanial Munroe
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| Author | Topic: Nathanial Munroe |
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Silver Lyon Posts: 363 |
posted 03-22-2005 01:15 PM
  
Does anyone know where Nathanial Munroe served his apprenticeship and then worked before he reached Baltimore in 1815? I have a soup ladle here that looks c.1805, with a pseudo lion passant mark and STERLING in full in a full cameo punch? The (original) initials are vertical on the fiddle (unlike the more usual horizontal placing of initials on American pieces by this date) - Is this an early Baltimore attempt at establishing Sterling Standard, or could this ladle be colonial? I am not in a position to post pictures just at the moment (or would have done so!) - so hope that the above description suffices! IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 03-22-2005 02:08 PM
Nathaniel Munroe came to Baltimore from Concord, Mass. He was married in Concord, and since silversmiths did not usually marry until completing their apprenticeships, it is probable he apprenticed there. If by vertical, you mean the initials are read with the handle pointing upwards, that was the practice in the Philadelphia - Baltimore-Wilmington area for script initials (block initials were that way everywhere), and not in New England, where script initials were usually read horizontally. The use of the Sterling punch was also largely confined to the Baltimore area in the pre-assay office period, so it is likely the ladle was made there. The exact date of his arrival in Baltimore is not absolutely certain, so it could have been a few years earlier than 1815, but not many. I do not think the Sterling stamp was used in the Colonial period - the ladle must be of the Federal period. [This message has been edited by swarter (edited 03-22-2005).] IP: Logged |
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FredZ Posts: 1070 |
posted 03-22-2005 02:34 PM
Any chance the ladle is Irish? I have owned an Irish ladle of this period marked STERLING. Fred IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 03-22-2005 03:32 PM
I don't think a lion passant would have appeared on Irish silver, Fred. However, I should have asked if the mark was "N.Munroe" or just "Munro." There were Munros in St. Johns, New Brunswick (Canada), who marked their silver "Munro," and Canadians did pseudo lions passant. IP: Logged |
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Silver Lyon Posts: 363 |
posted 03-23-2005 09:38 AM
Isn't it fun when one is lucky enough to get such a well informed response! Thank You. - I am still curious about the lion - how often does he appear on Federal period Baltimore silver? N.Munroe is the punch (egrailed) - Could the lion and sterling refer to a central (larger scale) maker at this date - in other words how common are they. Yes the initials are in script. Should I trouble to make a photograph? Once again, IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 03-23-2005 09:48 AM
Is the mark the same as shown on my Munroe page? [This message has been edited by wev (edited 10-16-2013).] IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 03-23-2005 11:36 AM
The use of the Sterling mark was not uncommon in Baltimore during that period; I do not recall ever seeing a suggestion of commonality related to it. The usual pseudohallmark in Baltimore during that period was an eagle head (several varieties - no single commonality); I do not recall ever seeing a lion from that time and place. My impression, off the top of my head, is that the occurrance of a single lion (not one in a group of pseudohallmarks) is relatively uncommon and rather haphazard on American silver, and more common on Canadian silver. IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 03-23-2005 11:41 AM
Munroe married twice before moving to Baltimore. His first wife was Sally Lee of Concord; they married there on 30 October 1803. He was 26 and well established as a clockmaker with his brother Daniel. Sally died in 1806, apparently childless. He then married Mary Cotton Ballard of Framington on 20 Sep 1807. They had four children, the last born in 1812. Some time after this the family moved to Baltimore. I do not have a death date for Mary, but it was before 16 May 1826, when Munroe married a third time to Mary Ann Hagar of Baltimore. This last marriage is interesting as Munroe's friend in Concord, the mathmatical instrument maker Benjamin Hagar, had moved to Baltimore around 1814 and may have proved the impetus for Munroe's move to the same city. Munroe's first advertisement there, in October 1817, directed enquiries to Haggar's [sic] on South Street. I am still trying to piece together the relationship between Mary Ann and Benjamin Hagar. IP: Logged |
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Patrick Vyvyan Posts: 640 |
posted 03-23-2005 12:44 PM
In passing, there's a little more biographical info on Munroe at Nathaniel Munroe IP: Logged |
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