Gorham Commemorative Sterling Silver Plate - 17.515 ozt. Scalloped edge, inscription in the middle of the bowl: "The American Mercury Trophy Morris and Essex 1937 Chesapeake Best of Winners." Marked on underside with Gorham mark and the Black, Starr & Frost mark (indicating it was produced by Gorham for sale by them, during the period leading up to their acquisition of the company). 

Size: 10 x 10 x 1 in. 

Weight: 17.515 ozt. 

The Gorham Manufacturing Company was founded in Providence, Rhode Island in 1831 by Jabez Gorham and Henry Webster. Their coin silver flatware was selected by Mary Todd Lincoln for the White House in 1859. In 1868, they made the switch from coin silver to sterling silver and produced everything from knives, forks, and spoon sets to coffee pots and serving bowls. In 1848, Gorham’s silver marks consisted of a lion, an anchor, and the letter “G.” Then, from 1848 through about 1860, the lion markings faced left instead of right. Sterling tea sets and some other hollowware items were assigned numbers in a decimal sequence. Pieces created between 1868 and 1884 were marked with capital letters. From then until 1933 unique iconography was used, including wolf’s heads and open parachutes. A series of mergers eventually ended in 2009 when the company went bankrupt after being acquired by Lenox Holdings. 

Black, Starr & Frost was founded in New York City in 1810 as Marquand and Co., and quickly gained a reputation for designing and creating high-quality silverware and jewelry. Officially adopting that moniker in 1876 after numerous partnerships with key apprentices to the original founders, they reached the zenith of their popularity during the Gilded Age and eventually became known as one of the oldest continuously operating luxury jewelry and silversmithing firms in the United States. In 1940 the Alvin Manufacturing Company and Gorham joined with them to form Black, Starr & Gorham, which continues to create high-end jewelry and silverware today.

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