Jump to content

Silver Dish


Stuart0742

Recommended Posts

The Homan Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati USA - 1847 to 1941

It says Sheffield on it, but with the qualifier "Design made in the USA"

So was it made here or was it made as vox says in Cincinati USA

Is their a Sheffield in the USA that makes silver plates?

The hall marks are very clearly stamped but they are meaningless to me.

I am sure that some other member will be able to interpret them fully.

EPNS = Electro Plated Nickel Silver.

As this is an EPNS piece it is not a piece of traditional "Sheffield Plate" silverware.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at the info that vox has found/added,

It appears to me as ..

SHEFFIELD

DESIGN

MADE IN U.S. or U.S.A.

So an American made plate using OUR good name and reputation to promote it!! :angry:

I would still like those hall marks interpreted though, - should give us a place and a date of manufacture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you'll find that Sheffield Design refers to EPNS being a Sheffield invention.

I does clearly say Made in US.

When I first read it I thought it was clearly what they meant and I didn't think they were trying to mislead.

You could debate as to whether they're adding a respectful "Sheffield" or perhaps that they're using the "Sheffield" as a selling point.

Maybe both - Who knows?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you'll find that Sheffield Design refers to EPNS being a Sheffield invention.

I does clearly say Made in US.

When I first read it I thought it was clearly what they meant and I didn't think they were trying to mislead.

You could debate as to whether they're adding a respectful "Sheffield" or perhaps that they're using the "Sheffield" as a selling point.

Maybe both - Who knows?

Where did you get the information in post #2 vox?

Did you translate those 3 hallmark figures at the top?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where did you get the information in post #2 vox?

Did you translate those 3 hallmark figures at the top?

From a website but I'm afraid I can't remember which one (Rubbish aren't I)

I think strictly speaking the marks on this plate are "Makers Marks" rather than "Hallmarks" as I think "Hallmark" only applies to gold silver and platinum in their various purities.

Pseudo hallmarks were made illegal sometime in the late 19th century to avoid people being miss-led, and all EPNS goods had to be marked as such.

This, by the way, is only what I remember from my days as a "junk dealer" in the 70's

(By the way, I think that Electro plating was first done in Birmingham - not Sheffield as I had intimated earlier.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Homan Manufacturing Company, Cincinnati USA - 1847 to 1941

Looks like you had already answered this one in post #2 then vox, at the very first reply to the request for help.

Well done, 10/10

*

lol

(Exam results out today, new term starts on 6 September)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where did you get the information in post #2 vox?

Did you translate those 3 hallmark figures at the top?

From a website but I'm afraid I can't remember which one (Rubbish aren't I)

I think strictly speaking the marks on this plate are "Makers Marks" rather than "Hallmarks" as I think "Hallmark" only applies to gold silver and platinum in their various purities.

The letters WMMt stands for White Metal Mounts

Pseudo hallmarks were made illegal sometime in the late 19th century to avoid people being miss-led, and all EPNS goods had to be marked as such.

This, by the way, is only what I remember from my days as a "junk dealer" in the 70's

(By the way, I think that Electro plating was first done in Birmingham - not Sheffield as I had intimated earlier.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"The Homan Manufacturing Company has a history dating back to 1847. Henry Homan and Asa F. Flagg formed a partnership in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the manufacture of pewter wares. Homan & Co. pieces were often marked "Flagg & Homan", at that time. After Henry died, his widow and sons ran the firm until 1887. During this period, they changed over a great deal of their production to electroplating with silver and sometimes gold. In 1896, the firm was listed as the Homan Silver Plate Co., and between 1904 and 1915, they became the Homan Mfg. Co. They were out of business by 1941. The bottom of this beautiful piece is marked Sheffield Design, Made in USA, with the Homan Manufacturing Co. initials H.M.C. and the company Hallmark. The pot is numbered, 0624. The letters E.P.N.S. and the letters W.M.M'T'S are on the bottom as well. Sheffield design refers to the electroplating process used. E.P.N.S. stands for Electro Plate Nickel Silver. W.M.M'T'S, which stands for white metal mounts, is a generic mark used by many manufacturers -----"

Source

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest TiggerUSA

Sorry to resurrect an old topic, but I received a piece with these marks for Christmas. Interestingly, it was purchased near Cincinnati, home of Homan. However, the marks I'm able to find for Homan do not match the 3 marks above. Homan used an anchor/rope motif, where here we have 3 marks: shield w/ crown, lion with hat, and shield w/ hand. My piece shows no EPNS or other process mark. It's a sort of pierced cup with bail handle and glass insert--perhaps a pickle castor missing its lid--so there's not much room for marks.

Odd, because the piece Vox references clearly shows HMC. This site shows both sets of marks, but that seems odd. http://www.silvercollection.it/AMERICANSILVERPLATEMARKSH.html

Any further ideas?

Tigger

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Tigger and welcome.

Maybe the dish above was made before the outlawing of misleading marks.

Just a thought, I'm no expert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My personal opinion (and it is only that) is that they are misleading marks meant to imply that it has some value.

Earlier (Here) I made a misleading statement when I said "Makers Marks"

IE. they could be interpreted, by the unwary, as Silver Marks.

As I said earlier, pseudo hallmarks were made illegal sometime in the late 19th century, and EPNS had to be clearly marker as such.

A makers mark, I think, would be more likely to be a single icon, rather than the three that appear on this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seems you're not seeing what's there, it doesn't say SHEFFIELD it actually says SHEFFIELL, the "D" has been worn away because the marks are to crisp and the H.M.C. marks stand for His Majestys Customs (probably) plus there is a Sheffield in Ohio as theres one in Alabama where they make or made steel, this could be marketed as Sheffield Made Steel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...