Paul Revere Reproduction Bowl

Curious about the maker. One of the marks looks like McDonald’s?

 

Kard, I'm guessing that the bowl was sold at a jewelry store (or similar) - named McDonald's - in the Mayfair area of Philadelphia.

 

Just found this:

And speaking of elegant, memories of McDonald’s jewelry store must be mentioned. First they were tucked away in a corner at the Mayfair movies. Then they moved across the way on Frankford Avenue on the ground floor and then moved upstairs to a second or third floor. When you walked in there you knew you were in some place very special. The first thing you would see as you stepped in the store was an imposing grandfather clock. You would have to stop and readjust yourself to this elegant world away from the world. The atmosphere was so quiet, clean and elegant and the service was personal and dignified. One day the sales lady there explained to me what Krementz was. I recently spoke to a jeweler and he said that, today, know one knows how it was made. Despite the imposing elegance of McDonald’s you could buy affordable pieces of gold-filled jewelry for $10 to $12 there as well as high-end pieces. Is there even such a thing as gold-filled anymore?

from: https://philadelphianeighborhoods.com/2011/02/21/northeast-mayfair-then-and-now/

 

Agree. What an ugly marking job.

 

Thanks. Because of the lack of maker’s mark, I would think the bowl was made by a small company?
Otherwise, a good 700 grams.

 

Kard, I'm not sure it matters what company made it. With all that engraving, it's probably not something anyone unrelated to the original "recipient" might want anymore. Its real value is likely in its melt weight.

 

Not necessarily. Before dies were made with maker's stamps, plenty of big name manufacturers, Reed and Barton in particular, stamped their goods with the destination jeweler's name. Por ejemplo, there are plenty of CD Peackock stamps on R&B silver out there.

 

It may well be Oneida, notorious maker of repro Revere bowls. I think you're right about this one being worth melt unfortunately. Only someone related to the original recipient would pay more, most likely. If it were the right company it might go for more too. Colt Firearms stuff, for instance, can go nuts.

 

Philco = radio company, perhaps someone who collects radio stuff?

 

Most makers usually mark with just “sterling” instead of “sterling silver”, don’t they?

 

Mostly. The odd part is if you find something marked [random] Silver Company, it's always plated.

 

Was that a question about gold filled jewelry in today's world.It is every where,wire and sheet is available from many suppliers ........... https://www.google.com/search?q=gol...WXVs0KHYcbB4wQ_AUoAnoECBEQBA&biw=1266&bih=723

 

Yeah, I don't think the writer knew much about jewelry...

It was just something included in a reminiscence written about the jewelry store where Kard's bowl was apparently sold.

 

Just in case everyone doesn't know this already, the Paul Revere bowl that all of these reproductions are based on is one of the most viewed pieces in the MFA collection in Boston. Called the "Sons of Liberty" bowl, it was made by Paul Revere in 1768. https://collections.mfa.org/objects...x=8a8581f2-ae95-4982-b750-4cade96ec378&idx=10


You see a ton of these in thrift stores etc, in different sizes and almost always in silverplate or pewter. Less than 1/100 you'll see are sterling, but I'll still turn them over to check. They were made from the mid-20th century in Sterling by many manufacturer's; and often used as awards to be engraved with things like the one above. I have three, all from thrifts, all marked as Paul Revere reproduction, from lightest weight to heaviest marked by Fina, International Sterling, and Gorham.

 

Hmm. Where would you place a Watson Company exemplar in that line up in sterling, Jeff? 9" diameter, 4.5" tall and weighs a ton! (Not really a ton of course, but very thick wall for the bowl and quite heavy.) Never engraved, so other than having the post-1910 mark, I don't know when it was made.

 

MFA purchased the bowl in 1949, so I don't think you'll see this exact shape being used prior to that, and certainly not with a Revere Reproduction/Exemplar mark. The engraved ones I see (like the OP's) all seem to be dated from the 50's to 70's by which point sterling silver was losing much of its market appeal (though I'm sure you could still buy and engrave one today if you wanted).

Luckily, the only one of mine that is unengraved is the Gorham with the lion,anchor,G mark (others have dates 1954 and 1966). I don't know whether Gorham stopped using that on their sterling at some point or not?

 

Rainwater shows and describes a hexagon shape for the 70's for heavy sterling "special items" of holloware but does not mention discontinuance.

 

Just found this: https://www.invaluable.com/blog/gorham-silver/
"From 1940 onward, Gorham silver marks changed each decade to include the year inscribed within a polygon with the same number of sides as the decade itself (for example, if a piece was made in 1947, its mark would feature the number “7” inscribed within a four-sided shape to reflect the 1940 decade)."

I knew about the changing marks that they used in the late-1800's/early-1900's in addition to the lion-anchor-G, but hadn't seen that they returned to putting year marks in 1940. Mine has a "5" inside a pentagon, so it was made in 1955 (not that anyone was asking).

 

Pardon, I thought you already knew about the decade shapes with number inside from what you had previously posted. Rainwater indicates that date marks were discontinued from 33 to 40 and the shape plus number system began in 41.

FYI I would not normally take a selling site's word for any marking information with out finding corroborating information on a reputable marks site. In this case it does turn out that they are very close to correct.

 

I'm batting 0/2000 on checking PR bowls in thrifts so far....maybe someday!