| The average collectors usually do not pay high | | | | almost anything French of the early eighteenth |
| price for the silver wares. Many wars have | | | | century or before. However, the written word |
| destroyed the silver not only in England but also in | | | | can give little idea of the masterpieces and |
| other nations of the continent like France, | | | | near-masterpieces that were made in each |
| Germans, Sweden and the Netherland. But the | | | | country; the actual pieces must be seen and |
| non-availability of reliable information made the | | | | studied. In most instances this is achieved best in |
| study of silver difficult to come to and concrete | | | | the land of their origin. |
| conclusion. | | | | American |
| Continental | | | | American silver was made first in the |
| The sale at Sothebys in London of a silver dinner | | | | mid-seventeenth century and for a considerable |
| service made in Paris between 1735 and 1738 | | | | time after showed strong foreign influences: |
| focused attention on foreign silver. The 168 | | | | Dutch, French and Scandinavian clearly being |
| pieces, made by the eminent silversmith Jacques | | | | discernible in many instances. Further, the earliest |
| Roettier, which had been in one family since they | | | | silversmiths were two Englishmen, John Hull and |
| were made, fetched ($579,600)('£207,000). | | | | Robert Sanderson, of Boston, Massachusetts. |
| Such a very large sum is unusual for a single lot | | | | While makers' marks are found, either in the form |
| of silver of any nationality, but the service was a | | | | of initials or the full name, date letters were not |
| most outstanding one. The price it realized need | | | | used. Pieces can be dated only by their style, by |
| not alarm the average collector, for the majority | | | | the known working-period of their maker or, if |
| of foreign silver fortunately can be bought for | | | | there is a dated one, by an inscription. Early |
| considerably less money. | | | | American silver is very rare, and most of the |
| Just as English silver suffered great losses during | | | | important surviving specimens are in museums in |
| the Civil War, so the many wars that raged on | | | | the major cities or in the art galleries of colleges. |
| the Continent during the seventeenth and | | | | Among the earlier successful Boston makers |
| eighteenth centuries caused the destruction of | | | | were John Allen and John Edwards, Jeremiah |
| large quantities almost everywhere. Further, in | | | | Dummer, Edward Winslow and John Coney. The |
| France, the Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars | | | | latter took as apprentice the famous patriot and |
| wiped out a very large proportion of the | | | | silversmith, Paul Revere (1735-1818), whose ride |
| remaining early French pieces. In view of the | | | | from Charlestown to Lexington in 1775 was |
| turbulent history of every country it is surprising | | | | immortalized with due poetic license by Longfellow. |
| that any silver has survived anywhere, but in fact | | | | Revere is not only an American hero, but his |
| a considerable amount can be found. As in other | | | | craftsmanship has earned him the appreciation of |
| branches of collecting, however, there is a | | | | collectors. |
| shortage of pieces of the highest quality. | | | | New York boasted a group of Dutch makers |
| On the whole, the study of much Continental | | | | together with others of French descent. Other |
| silver is made difficult by a lack of information on | | | | centers of silver making were Philadelphia, |
| the subject; few reliable books have been | | | | Connecticut, Baltimore and Annapolis in Maryland, |
| published, and authoritative opinions are hard to | | | | and Newport, Rhode Island. The variety of pieces |
| obtain. In spite of numerous regulations enforcing | | | | made was much smaller than that of European |
| both assaying and marking much old foreign | | | | countries. On the whole, large pieces were either |
| silverware is unmarked, and to complicate the | | | | never made or have disappeared; a Baltimore |
| matter there is a glut of fakes. | | | | soup-tureen is believed to be unique. |
| The earliest pieces of any nationality are | | | | In view of its rarity and the zeal with which it is |
| extremely rare and seldom to be seen outside | | | | sought, American silver has been faked. |
| the strongest showcases of the largest museums. | | | | Ingeniously, English and foreign pieces have had |
| Pieces made in the seventeenth and eighteenth | | | | marks removed, leaving only one or more that |
| centuries are sometimes to be bought, but the | | | | might be interpreted as those of an American |
| more important ones are expensive. | | | | maker. |
| The most sought include: seventeenth-century | | | | Apart from the continental nations which deals |
| cups of all kinds, many of German origin and | | | | with silver in the early centuries, American silver |
| often in unusual forms; Swedish tankards of large | | | | were also made first in the mid-seventeenth |
| size on ball feet and each with a coin set in the | | | | century. They showed strong influences of the |
| cover; Dutch and German teapots in styles that | | | | Dutch, French and the Scandinavian. |
| were imitated closely in Continental porcelain; | | | | |