posted 06-12-2005 05:29 PM            

Here is a nice little punch strainer that turned up at an antique show this weekend. No makers mark, but it could very well be an example of colonial American silver. The distance across to the ends of each handle is only six inches and the bowl is about 3 inches in diameter. Some handles from some early New York pieces have hearts and circles; however the pictures I have seen of them would indicate that they are often more sophisticated or complex. The band around the outside of the bowl appears to be made of three silver wires separately applied. The number on the bottom (1 18) may be a weight number as there is no indication of any missing numbers.

posted 06-13-2005 08:20 AM            

Thanks for sharing!

posted 06-13-2005 01:16 PM            

Unlikely that yours is American - the crudeness suggests that it might be provincial, apprentice made, or otherwise not by a trained silversmith, but a nice early find, nonetheless. The engraving is certainly consistent with styles of the late 17th and early 18th Century period when this was likely made.

posted 06-18-2005 03:41 PM            

Thanks again Swarter for pointing out Michael Clayton's book. The book is one I have not seen before, but by just a brief look appears to be a valuable resource for identifying style by time periods. Thanks again.

posted 05-14-2021 10:17 PM            

Mr. Adams has a portion of the book devoted to what I would consider a general essay on what lemon strainers are all about. He also offers some sage advice on value and price and as shown above where to look for strainers.

I think here he was referring to my post above from 2005 where he indicated “one lucky fellow” found a strainer at an antique show. To set the record straight it was at the old Lakewood show in Atlanta and the dealer I went to was not a silver dealer but simply a dealer with a “good eye”. It was a rare weekend that I did not find something wonderful from this dealer.

As shown below, Mr. Adams shows two examples of in the same style as the strainer I brought. These are marked for London silversmiths. The one I have is not marked, but one must remember if it had been marked with the full English markings it would not have been at this flea market show.

posted 05-15-2021 02:25 PM            

My strainer is now 58 grams and if I did the math right it weighed 59.09 grams when it was purchased. I think Troy ounces were used back when this was made so it lost a little over one gram.

posted 08-05-2022 08:28 PM            

The July/August issue of Silver Magazine has an interesting article by Caroline Rubinstein on silver in the Fogg Museum. They have the strainer shown and described in the last two pictures above in their collection with dates of 1686/87 and a maker’s mark of RB of London. Micheal Adams, in his book on Silver Lemon Strainers, attributes the mark RB to Robert Butterfield and discusses this strainer, but did not show a picture of it.

It is interesting that this one and the unmarked one I found have handles sans nipples whereas other two shown by Mr. Adams have nipples at the ends of both of the handles. Perhaps the designers of the later ones felt some need to just not copy the handles, but to add something of their own. It would be interesting to know who made the original design and how many more were made during the time period this design was used.

The unmarked strainer that I found is resting on a two handled cup sometimes referred to as a loving cup. It was from my recent marriage and is by Reed and Barton. It has cast handles reminiscent of handles of the early 1700s.

I should add that we were married in 1963 and this Reed and Barton cup is a good example of what was being produced at that time in great numbers.