Featured What does 'standard' mean on this old brooch?

Hi everyone,

I picked up this old brooch recently when I was at the end of shopping and needing lunch. I thought it was marked Sterling (clearly needed food!) and it was only once I was home I realised it is marked 'standard' on the reverse.

I have tried to find out what this means but so far no luck, does anyone know what it means? And is it likely to be silver, or is it something else instead? TYIA.

 

https://www.smpub.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/003252.html
"'STANDARD' is the maker's mark, they're silverplate, produced by Boston manufacturer Standard Silverware Co.,"

 

I wonder if that quoted reply can be trusted ...
What do you think, @DragonflyWink?

 

Sister........funny thing to write on a Kukri !!

 

What I was thinking. but..depends on the sister!

 

Fantastic, thank you so much! I was going a bit crazy trying to find this one, as I was having no luck whatsoever! Not the silver find then I was hoping for perhaps but it was a nice price, so nothing to complain about really!

Agreed!!!

 

Cheryl was the source of Marote's quotation from smpub.

 

hence

 

Dragonflywink's name is Cheryl in case you didn't know, Marote.

 

I know that's why I added that comment tagging her, as a kind of joke, because not so long ago, I also posted a reply based on an answer from another site, and I hadn't noticed that I was quoting her ... until she pointed that out
And this time I almost made the same mistake, as once again I didn't immediately see who had been the wise person giving that answer . So I added that reply to "covertly" give her the credits for this knowledge.

 

Is there any information that the company made silver jewelry? Your piece would need to be tested as there appears to have an oxidized seam line and the rest of the piece does not appear to be oxidized. Solder for sterling jewelry is usually no more than 65/70 percent silver.

 

IIRC some traditional "native" smiths used copper solder, since they had a hard time getting the other.

 

Maybe made for this sister?

 

She should post on my blade thread..........

 

Then.......... of course the Jewelry Forum..... she'd be a big hit !!

 

Eating with that nose ring in would take some practice.

 

Kissing too !!!!!

 

She doesn't look old enough for that, but...who knows.

 

Sorry - first chance I've had to comment. Standard Silverware Co. produced spoons and other silverware in silverplate, 'Nevada Metal', and silver, though I've never run across any solid silver, but the mark 'STANDARD' was also occasionally used on some early to mid 19th century American coin silver, typically stamped intaglio rather than incuse as on this piece and other Standard Silverware items - hence the question regarding coin silver on the SMP Forums post.

I'm posting some images from my files on the company, and for a brief summary, in addition to manufacturing silverware, they also wholesaled other maker's items, including jewelry, and sent out salespeople with their catalog and samples to sell house-to-house and to businesses as well (they even offered revolvers) - they also encouraged women to sign on as salespeople, and continued in business into the 1920s. There was also a Toronto silverplate firm founded in 1895 called the 'Standard Silver Co.', it was sometimes also called the 'Standard Silverware Co.', including in advertising after they became part of International Silver in 1912 - the Boston firm (they had a New York office in the 1870s), made some nice Aesthetic patterns that are often identified as by the Toronto maker, but those patterns would date earlier than when they were in business, and holloware seemed their primary production.

Couldn't tell you if this piece was actually manufactured by Standard, they used some different marks, including just the sans-serif 'STANDARD' like yours, as well as a serifed version, and they used both 'Standard Silverware Co.' and 'Standard Silver Ware Co.' in both their advertising and marks. If this brooch were silver, would expect it to be marked as such, and have to ask if that's oxidation in the engraving or brass base metal showing...


An 1882 article cited in the company's sales packet:




1897 ads:







~Cheryl

 

Interesting the way the second ad is alluding to the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. Apparently that technique has been used by advertisers for a long time!