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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 Filley & Mead spoon
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| Author | Topic: Filley & Mead spoon |
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akgdc Posts: 289 |
posted 03-27-2005 08:20 PM
  
Here is a spoon I came across yesterday that intrigues me. Although it's silverplate, it's of the coin silver period, which is why I posted it here. It's a tablespoon, just shy of 9 inches long, in the typical fiddle pattern of the 1830s-40s. The monogram is in the cursive style, perpendicular to the handle, that typifies Philadelphia engraving of the first half of the 19th c. The plating is about 80 percent intact, and where worn off reveals a base metal of pale brassy color. The mark is "Filley & Mead," incuse, in a style also typical of the 1830s-40s. I know that John O. Mead was the man who pioneered electroplating in America -- he was first associated with Ames Mfg. Co. in Massachusetts, and later the fledgling firm of Rogers Bros. He is credited with traveling to England to bring the secret of electroplating back to the U.S. Filley may refer to Harvey Filley, who was a Philadelphia electroplater post-1859. (Harvey Filley & Co.) I'm wondering where this spoon -- and its makers -- fit into the early history of American silverplating. IP: Logged |
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swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 |
posted 03-27-2005 10:30 PM
Brix shows Filley, Mead, and Caldwell listed in an 1850 Philadelphia Directory as silverplaters. Harvey Filley & Sons worked c. 1859 - after 1887, so Filley & Mead have to be before 1859. [This message has been edited by swarter (edited 03-27-2005).] *** Note the corrected date of 1859 for Harvey Filley & Sons *** [This message has been edited by swarter (edited 03-28-2005).] IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 03-27-2005 10:37 PM
The style of the mark is uniquely Philaldelphian as well. Interesting to see early plate like this; thanks for sharing! Brent IP: Logged |
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akgdc Posts: 289 |
posted 03-27-2005 11:19 PM
Glad my surmises were in the ball park. Is there any generally accepted date for when electroplating got off the ground in the United States? IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 03-27-2005 11:45 PM
This a matter of some debate. If you mean electroplating in general and do not narrow the field by demanding a successful business, then the Reverend Whitfield Cowles was doing plating in the mid to late 1830s at Granby CT. After his death in 1840, his son carried on the operation and joined, in 1845, with Asa Rogers, James Isaacson, and John Johnson to form the Cowles Manufacturing Company. The firm, which lasted only about a year, is credited with being the first commercial venture of its kind in the United States. I have a pair of mint condition sauce ladles with the Cowles mark. IP: Logged |
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akgdc Posts: 289 |
posted 03-28-2005 09:30 AM
Did Cowles discover electroplating independently, or did he learn it from British sources? I suppose the references I found to Mead as the one who brought the process across the Atlantic were mistaken. I'd be very interested to see those sauce ladles. IP: Logged |
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