!! Greetings with a question!!

I would recommend using a liquid silver polish to clean it up. Work small areas at a time, so you can rinse off before the polish dries in any crevices.
You'll probably find some areas of wear, but overall it will turn out very nice and you will be able to see the decoration.
Leaving it the way it is, the tarnish will just worsen.

 

And "After" pictures please? We LOVE those!
I posted this illustration of the fantastic R&B polar motif before, but I'll post it again, since this is a new thread.

 

Wow! Pretty!
Thank you and yes, when clean,I will repost.
Best,
Tommy C.

 

Ohh, any idea of value?
Should I insure it?

 

These are hard sell white elephants, they take up a lot of room ! For insurance purposes maybe $250 depending on condition , since it is an unusual form? The tilting pitchers are more common.

 

Thank you for the info

 

Update (not what I had wanted)
"Copied from email from Reed and Barton":

"We are sorry as In reviewing our research materials that we have available to us , all we were able to find is that is a Reed & Barton coffee urn. We apologize for any disappointment this may cause you.

By way of background, Lenox acquired Reed & Barton through a bankruptcy in June 2015. Unfortunately, Lenox was only able to purchase certain assets of Reed & Barton in the proceeding , As many of the archives and research materials are no longer available to our customer service department. Unfortunately most of Reed & Barton’s history, information and items were lost to us as they had to be sold through the bankruptcy courts.

An antiquities expert may be able to provide additional information for you. You may also want to contact secondary market sources such as www.replacements.com which deals in retired patterns or www.ebay.com for current market value and to see if they have any information on your flatware.


If we may be of further assistance, please email us at info@reedandbarton.com . Additionally, our representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8:30 am - 8:00 pm ET , Saturday, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm est at our toll-free number 1-800-833-1157. We appreciate your interest in our company and we hope that you continue to visit our site at www.reedandbarton.com


Best regards,

Jeannette Petro

Reed & Barton Customer Service"

Oh well.....the search continues....

 

Neat piece, I would polish it up and use it!

 

Thanks for following up with their reply. If you are really intrepid, you could inquire at some of the major museum archives for trade catalogs. I seem to recall seeing many at Winterthur for example. American silver scholars might have their own stashes as well. Check decorative arts faculty departments at the Smithsonian, for example.

 

I don't think she knew what she was talking about.

Your urn is not flatware.

I think that is speculation on their part.
I would believe the research given here about it being an ice water urn, not coffee.

 

Agreed.

 

In Rainwater's book American Silverplate, all the ice water pictures have high spouts



Coffee urns are on legs with spouts like a regular coffee pot. Some are sitting on stands like a fondue stand to keep the coffee hot.

Maybe @Darkwing Manor could scan a picture of the coffee pot on stand.

 

"
Not sure what coffee pot we're talking about?

 

On pg 97 or 111
Oh I see I goofed.(I hate this old brain business!) The heated coffee urn has a spigot too. I thought I had seen a regular spout.

 

I'm getting a little confused myself, with all the switched spouts, spigots, and stands ; swinging or otherwise! With the Victorians, anything worth doing was worth overdoing.

 

Guessing that there's little business for the Reed & Barton service reps at the moment, they're likely sitting at home, bored, and poked around online for the incorrect "coffee urn" identification - but think it was very nice of them to make an effort and respond.


Again, I remain confused regarding what exactly you're still searching for...


~Cheryl

 

me or Tc7447

 

Hey Pat - I was responding to the OP, whose last comment was, "Oh well.....the search continues....", and I'm still just trying to figure out what they're looking for that hasn't already been addressed.

But if there's something I can clarify for you or anyone else, would be happy to do so...

~Cheryl

 

Thanks Cheryl,
I am looking for a definitive answer.
I agree with some of the posts about it being a coffee urn or maybe used for something cold.
As you can see, there is nothing firm. It's all guesses. Educated for sure, so no malice here, just appreciation for everyone's time and knowledge.
I AM going to look at museum archives.Great idea...thanks.
When I get more info,I will definitely share it with you.
Tx

 

Understand that you are new here, and please forgive me for not having extended a 'welcome'. Believe those who have known me for some time, know that I do not state an ID as fact unless I am quite sure and am able to back it up with reliable reference, which was done here. I could pull images and text from other catalogs and books, but won't bother wasting my time...

Apparently what you're saying is that an illustration from a Reed & Barton catalog showing a similar piece with the same type 'icy Arctic' images (the author of the book identifying it as an "ice-water urn"), as well as Darkwing's catalog/ad image of a Reed & Barton "Arctic Chased Ice Water Set", along with those additional images of similar pieces from the Meriden Britannia catalog (where they're described as "Ice Urns"), one showing walrus handles, another 'icy environment' indicator, are simply not enough to make you believe that your item was intended for ice. Sorry, just really don't understand why you don't believe the advertising of the period - there was no guessing in the information I gave you. It is not a coffee urn, which would have a warmer underneath (and no 'icy' decoration) - it is an ice urn, even without the 'icy' motifs, with its double walls and pedestal base, it would still be an ice urn, but wishing you luck in your further research.

~Cheryl