Holger Rasmussen was a Danish silversmith based in Copenhagen and operating between 1945 – 1956. His designs were mostly of clean lines. Below are some examples of his work and his silver makers mark.

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Tiffany & Co was founded in New York in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany, initially as stationery and fancy goods store on Broadway, styled Tiffany & Young 1837-1841, when it became Tiffany, Young & Ellis till 1853, when Charles Lewis Tiffany took complete control of the firm, and it was designated Tiffany & Co. From about 1848, Tiffany began to focus on silver and precious stones, controlling their own silver manufacturing shop from 1851. By 1877 they had acquired the Tiffany diamond, a large yellow stone from the Kimberley Mines in South Africa and in 1887, they acquired major pieces at the sale of the French Crown Jewels in Paris. They moved to Fifth Avenue in 1905 and to their present address, Fifth Avenue and 57th street, in 1940.

Tiffany & Co. sold other manufacturers’ flatware until 1869, when they began making their own flatware. Before this date, flatware retailed by Tiffany bears both the Tiffany stamp and the maker’s stamp as a silver retailer and manufacturer. Reference: The British Museum

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The Watson Company was founded around 1874 by Clarence L. Watson, Fred Newell, Charles Cobb, Samuel Gould and W.A. Battey. The company made some excellent silverware and examples are shown below.

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Bailey & Kitchen. Originally Bailey & Co, the company was founded by Joseph Trowbridge Bailey and Andrew B. Kitchen. It was located at 136 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1840 Joseph’s brother Eli Westcott Bailey, a New York City jeweler and importer hurt financially by the Panic of 1837, came to Philadelphia and entered the firm. The name continued as Bailey & Kitchen. When Joseph died, Eli became the senior partner of Bailey & Co. until he retired in 1867, remaining a special partner until 1889. He died at 90 in 1899, his obituary appearing in the Jewelers’ Circular of 5 April of that year. The firm was located at the following addresses: 817 Chestnut Street (1857-68), 12th and Chestnut (1868-T904), 1218 Chestnut (1904-53), and 16th and Chestnut (1953-present). Reference: Dallas Museum of Art

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Henry Flavelle was a Dublin silver maker and was registered in 1843. Henry Flavelle joined George Brush in an optician and jeweller’s business, Flavelle and Brush, in 1840. Brush left the business in 1850 and Flavelle brought in his brother John. By 1855 the brothers were sufficiently prosperous to extend their premises and open a branch in Brisbane. In 1868 the brothers were joined in partnership by John Roberts and the company became known as Flavelle Roberts and Co. The partners’ sons were also involved in the business and the premises were expanded. By 1900 the business was both well known and well respected as manufacturer of jewellery. In 1926 another partner, Robert Sankey, joined the company. The business survived until the Great Depression, finally closing in 1932. Among the last products of their workshops were medals commemorating the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Reference: The British Museum

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Daniel Egan was a Dublin silversmith registered around 1800. Many of his silverware consisted of silver sugar baskets and other items such as tea services.

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Samuel Kirk & Son was founded in 1815 when Philadelphia-trained Samuel Kirk finished his apprenticeship under James Howell and moved to Baltimore. Attracted by the prosperous port, Kirk opened his shop at 212 Market Street (later known as 106 Baltimore Street) with fellow silversmith, John Smith. After the partnership was dissolved in 1821, Samuel Kirk carried on the business alone until his eldest son, Henry Child Kirk, became a partner in 1846.

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Robert Hendery was a Canadian silversmith, merchant, and silver manufacturer. He was born on the 14th December 1814 on the island of Corfu (Greece) and died on the 20th July 1897 in Montreal.

Hendery emigrated to Montreal around 1837.  He married his second wife Sarah Maysenhoelder, the daughter of a Montreal silversmith, John Maysenhoelder in 16 May 1843 .

Hendery was renown for  presentation pieces, trophies, and ecclesiastical silver as well as silver sculptures.

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Carl Poul Petersen was a goldsmith and a jeweler  born in 1895 in Copenhagen.  He did his studies and apprenticeship with European master Georg Jensen.  In 1929, he immigrated to Canada and settled with his wife in Montreal, where he worked at Henry Birks .  He opened his own studio (1937-1939). In 1939 he returned to Birks. In 1944, he set up his studio and his residence under the same roof, rue Mackay, Montreal 1 .  In the late 1940s, he was responsible for engraving the names on the Stanley Cup. In 1962, the National Hockey League ordered a replica of the original cut offered by Lord Stanley in 1893. The company CP Petersen & Sons was active until 1979 with the contribution of his two sons, Ole and John.  He died in1977 in Montreal.

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Peter Hertz opened his workshop in 1834 and for a period of time had a location in Ostergrade but eventually settled on the corner of Kobmagergrade and Kronpirnsengrade in Copenhagen where it exists today. He won exhibitions in Malmo in 1881, Liverpool 1886, Paris 1889, and Chicago 1895, with his jewelry and hollow-ware pieces that showcased scenes from Danish history. In 1906, one of his most notable pieces, a centerpiece with two twelve armed candelabra featuring a scene from the Nordic Edda, of Gefion plowing out Zealand was created. That very year he was also appointed as Court Jeweler. In 1876, his sons, Jacob and Sally continued the silver tradition and opened the first silver factory to use electricity in Denmark, which continued under Johan and Knud Hertz until it was shut down in 1960. Although the select few pieces made under the P. Hertz name are now executed y Erik Sjodahl, the shop itself still remains. Many of the pieces created by P. Hertz at the turn of the century were designed by such notable names as Johan Rhode, Thorvald Bindesboll, and Harald Slott-Moller. Reference: Jensen Silver

Johan Rohde was co-founder in 1891 of the secessionist group, Den Frie Udstilling (the Free Exhibition). Through this group he first met Georg Jensen, who in 1897 exhibited at Den Frie Udstilling the sculpture that had been rejected by the Danish Academy. Both later spent periods in the workshop of the silversmith Mogens Ballin, from which Jensen set up his own workshop in 1906. Rohde’s first silver designs, made in 1905 for his own house, were executed by Georg Jensen. He began to collaborate with Jensen in 1908, but it was not until 1917 that he entered into a formal association, which lasted until his death in 1935. During this time Rohde also designed silver for other Copenhagen firms. Reference: British Museum.

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