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OS Mark???

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Author	Topic: OS Mark???
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 09-05-2010 07:20 PM Does anyone know what this conjoined OS mark represents? It appears on coin silver. Here are two examples, one from Moore/Tiffany and another from Gorham. I suspect it might be a retailer's mark. Any ideas? IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 09-05-2010 07:34 PM Oscar Sibley? He was a big Buffalo jeweler and used a variety of marks. Never seen this before, though. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 09-06-2010 08:44 AM Oscar Sibley (Oscar Easterly Sibley) could be it. Thanks for the quick suggestion. The person who brought this to my attention suggested it meant "special order" and it was then that I realized they were as dyslexic or more than me. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 03-14-2011 01:08 PM IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 03-22-2011 10:57 AM IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 03-22-2011 11:48 AM While I still don't know the significance of the OS mark, I profoundly doubt that it is a retailer's mark or that Sibley was retailing Tiffany silver. The foundation of Tiffany's marketing strategy was exclusivity and that the only place in which to buy their wares, in America, was at their single New York store. The most logical theory, and it is just that a theory, is that this OS mark is some sort of exhibition or display mark. IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 09-15-2011 01:51 PM I thought that this OS mark might have been from an exhibition, but I now believe that I was wrong. Here is a Tiffany bowl with the OS mark and the Tiffany letter C, indicating that this piece was made between 1902 and 1907. This bowl was made more than thirty years after the other pieces pictured in this post. This has to kill both the exhibition and Oscar Sibley theories. Does anyone have other pieces with the OS mark? IP: Logged
Kimo Posts: 1627 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 09-15-2011 05:06 PM Perhaps the initials of either a corporate or even a private owner? For example, a corporate owner such as one of the fancy ocean liner companies like the Orient Steamship company that was around from 1797 until 2005, or the Ocean Steamship company that was around from 1865 until 1973. Corporate owners often marked their silver with their initials to prevent theft. IP: Logged
jersey Posts: 1203 Registered: Feb 2005	posted 09-15-2011 05:14 PM Just a wild thought, could it stand for Osmium? Jersey IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 09-16-2011 10:34 PM Kimo, Not a bad theory - perhaps. Jersey, I don't think so. IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 11-02-2011 05:29 PM Here is yet another Tiffany piece from 1902 - 1907 with the OS mark. What is the pattern here? IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 05-27-2012 02:33 PM I was poking around in some old auction results from 2009 and ran across a cann by Daniel Henchman. What caught my eye was that it had the mysterious OS struck below Henchman's mark Unfortunately, the auction house shows minimal information for past lots. IP: Logged
swarter Moderator Posts: 2920 Registered: May 2003	posted 05-27-2012 04:44 PM Ah, the proverbial Rosetta Stone. Good find. The Henchman piece is so much earlier than the others that the mark must be that of a retailer, auctioneer, owner, exhibitor, or some such, applied later at least in this case. I am reminded that Lord Breadalbane marked all the pieces in his collection. It now appears that this could not be a maker's mark IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 06-05-2012 05:48 PM wev, I have never seen this mark on such an old piece. Interesting. Do you know what the piece was? Other than the fact that, so far, these marks are only on American silver I'm not sure what to make of it. If I had to guess I would lean in the direction of the marks being from a collection. IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 06-05-2012 07:14 PM A cann 5 1/4" tall, 14 oz. IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 06-01-2013 04:35 PM Here's another example of the OS mark. This time it's on a three piece Gorham Tea Set. A quote from the people who own this set: THIS ONE OF A KIND GREEK SPHINX MOTIF, TOGETHER WITH THE INITIALS 'S & M' ON THE UNDERSIDES OF THE GOLD-WASHED CREAM JUG AND THE DOUBLE HANDLED SUGAR PAIL AND THE OBLITERATED MARK ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE TEAPOT, INDICATE THAT THE SET WAS INITIALLY INTENDED TO BE RETAILED BY STARR AND MARCUS WITH THE USUAL EGYPTIAN FINIAL; HOWEVER, OSCAR EASTERLY SIBLEY (ANOTHER NEW YORK RETAILER OF THE PERIOD) UPON RECEIVING A SPECIAL ORDER REQUEST FROM A CLIENT APPROACHED GORHAM TO CAST A GREEK SPHINX TO TOP THE TEAPOT. HENCE, THE INITIALS 'OS' WERE ADDED TO INDICATE THE NEW OUTLET See what has become of the Oscar Sibley attribution suggestion. This is how wars are started. IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 06-01-2013 10:59 PM And they (the owners) have documentation to support this, I suppose? IP: Logged
Richard Kurtzman Moderator Posts: 768 Registered: Aug 2000	posted 02-21-2022 02:21 PM While doing a search for the unknown Gotham marks I came across this thread. It’s almost nine years old and I wonder if anyone since then has seen any more of these OS marks? Does anyone have additional information or theories on this? IP: Logged

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