posted 11-24-2006 10:02 PM            

I note the forum is collecting genealogy information pertaining to American Silversmiths. I could not post in the section for "R" so I am volunteering this info here.

Could I offer the name of a little known silversmith that worked in New Orleans before and after the Civil War. I had a large spoon (silverplate) made by him at one time and did the research on it. It is below:

Casimir (Pierre?) Rouyer, New Orleans Civil War Silversmith

The back stamp is an impressed "CRouyer" for Casimir Rouyer who is best known for his manufacture of many Civil War Southern Militias and Confederacy uniform buttons and other metal items.

This spoon is hand made and is 9" long and is heavy, it weighs 120 gm. This is silver over base metal which appears to be brass and is visible where the silver is worn. Hallmarks:There is an apparent impressed Minerva head (French Hallmark c1838), an impressed 60 in a square and an impressed CROUYER in a rectangle. Perhaps the 60 is the year 1860 or is that the silver content? Of odd note is the heavy amount of silver accumulated on the tip of the spoon. This either speaks of the crude electroplating method of the independent silversmith (vs. a company like Rogers) or could it be the old Sheffield Plate "sandwich" method of plating (OSP)?

The Rouyers of New Orleans: The first Rouyer families in New Orleans were Pierre and Casimer but may have been the same person.

Casmir was born in France, probably in Strasburg, in 1813. Casimir was married to Antoinette (d1905), known to be born in Strasburg, FR. Casmir arrived in New Orleans in Jan 1848 on the ship Asia. The manifest listed his occupation as silversmith and he opened a shop in the French Quarter. Casmir and Antoinette had one child a daughter, Marie Royer Barker born in 1859. In William F. McGuinn and Bruce S. Bazelon's book, American Military Button Makers and Dealers; Their Backmarks & Dates listing shows:

"C. Rouyer, New Orleans, 153 & 135 Chartres St. Casimir Rouyer was listed as gilder, galvanizer & watchmaker from 1851 to 1881. Being a Southerner, he made buttons for Southern militias & the Confederacy. He was a partner of H. Levasseur who sold buttons for the firm in Richmond, VA during the Civil War. (See H. Levasseur). The partners' names appear on an 1861 contract proposal to manufacture over two million regulation CS Army buttons (Nat. Archives). (See Royer Y Lavasseur and Bennett & Tolleson). Also see C. Anderson: North South Trader v.IX, #5, July-Aug. 1982. Rouyer made NC buttons in mid-to-late 1861 for S.A. Myers of Richmond who in turn sold them to the NC Quartermaster. The Quarter Master wrote to Rouyer in late-1861 asking to buy buttons direct but Rouyer apparently did not respond. See S. A. Myers."

posted 11-25-2006 05:33 PM            

The "60" is puzzling, too; it smacks of a European silverplate quality mark. Again, I'd love to see a better photo.

posted 11-26-2006 01:03 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by blakstone:
Very nice. I'd love to see a better photo of the marks.

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Thank you both for the feedback on this maker. Very educational thread about the French marking protocol and the pseudo mark terminology.

I no longer have the spoon but I do have some old archived photos such as they are. Here are the only other photo's I have of the head mark and one of he tip of he spoon to show the wear and the buildup of silver on the tip. I didn't reduce these in fear that it would impair the view of the head mark. Please let me know when and I'll repost them reduced size.

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