(2) Sterling Silver Pieces, 1 American, 1 Italian - 1.025 ozt. The tongs are vintage from Stone Associates in Massachusetts, and the other item (likely a table tool or accoutrement) has the eagle crest and faded SPQR at top, the symbol of Ancient Rome and a common decoration on Italian silverworks in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. 

Size: (largest) 1 1/4 x 4 1/4 in. 

Weight: 1.025 ozt. 

Arthur J. Stone was born in England in 1847. He was trained and worked in silversmithing in Sheffield as well as in Edinburgh, Scotland, prior to immigrating to the United States in 1884. He was one of the last silversmiths in America to train apprentices to design in handwrought silver in the 20th Century. He worked first for William B. Durgin Co. in Concord, New Hampshire before moving in 1887 to Gardner, Massachusetts, to become designer, salesman, and manager of the hollowware department at the newly formed Frank W. Smith Company. It was here that Stone began to achieve national recognition for his Arts and Crafts designs and to use his own personal silver mark on pieces he made with his own two hands. In 1895 he moved to New York City to become a partner with J. P. Howard, a silversmith and retailer, but after multiple disagreements on the future of silversmithing he returned to Gardner in 1897, where he established his own home business which operated until its sale to Henry Heywood in 1937. His health failing, Stone planned to return to England, but died of a heart attack in 1938 before he could. The new owner continued to run the business out of the same building next to Stone’s old home with the same craftsmen, first renaming the company The Stone Silver Shop and later changing it to Stone Associates. He kept the Stone silver mark and added a small “h” in a shield to it. Heywood died in 1945, and his sons Henry Jr. and Jerome ran the business until 1957, when the business closed for good after 60 years of operation. Ernest W. Lehtonen acquired the Stone silver mark to use on flatware, changing the lower case “h” in the shield to a capital “L.” The mark continued to be used for another two decades before disappearing entirely, and today Arthur Stone is widely recognized as one of America’s foremost Arts and Crafts silversmiths.