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Gorham Cast Sterling Spoons
The vast majority of antique American sterling souvenir spoons that you'll ever see have been embossed. That is, the detail on them was created with 30- to 80-ton presses, squeezing two dies together with a blank piece of sterling silver between them. The dies were engraved with the mirror image of the pattern desired. Sometimes the bowls also were embossed with dies. Other times the bowls were left plain, then engraved at the factory or at a local jewelry shop, or etched with acid to decorate the bowl.
During the period of approximately 1890 to 1892, Gorham Mfg. Co. of Providence, RI, produced a limited number of cast spoons. The cast spoons were made by pouring molten sterling silver into molds that had been created with the design of both the handle and the bowl. By approximately 1893, Gorham had ceased casting spoons but continued to produce large numbers of embossed spoons.
Cast spoons can be recognized by their heavy weight and softer detailing than the very fine detail imparted to most embossed spoons. They were produced in demitasse and teaspoon size, some of the latter being among the largest and heaviest examples of turn of the century souvenir spoons. The handles have varying detailing on the reverse, in some cases relatively plain but in most cases continuing the theme from the front to produce an almost 3-D replica of something (see the Ouray spoon, for example).
Each spoon is shown in its entirety with enlargements of key features as appropriate. Many of the spoons were commissioned by a single seller on whose behalf Gorham produced the spoon. If a retailer's name is stamped on the spoon, it is listed with the illustration. Some of the spoons shown are from the collections of Pat Balach, Norma Bowen, Connie Halket, or Ann Rolfe. Thank you spoon collecting friends!
For a comparison of souvenir spoon fabrication techniques, click here.