By Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson
Scripps Howard News Service
Dear Helaine and Joe: I can remember this on my father's dresser for many years. He kept his cuff links and other small articles in the drawers that are lined with a soft red material. The mark is not clear, but it seems to be Reed & B---on. Could you help me identify this as to age and value? M.B., Maumee, Ohio
Dear M.B.: Unfortunately, the vast majority of all electroplated silver items do not excite most collectors. As a general rule, the shapes are uninteresting or the shiny silver finish has worn off, leaving a splotchy, dull gray, unattractive surface.
The process of electroplating base metal with silver was invented by the Elkingtons of Birmingham, England, in the late 1830s. The invention soon spread to other makers in other countries, and in the early years those who used the procedure paid the Elkingtons a royalty.
During the late 1830s, Reed and Barton, the maker of M.B.'s jewelry box, was in the business of crafting objects from pewter and Britannia metal, which is a silver-colored alloy made from tin, copper and antimony. In 1848 Reed and Barton became more interested in the new electroplating process and began producing a line of electroplated items as well as supplying Britannia metal bodies for other firms to plate.
Reed and Barton is located in Taunton, Mass., and today is actually better known for its sterling silver flatware, which it did not begin making until 1889. The two-drawer trinket box in today's question was made in the late 19th century and is a real charme,r with the embossed designs on the sides and the golf tee-shaped flower holder at the top.
It is delightful to imagine M.B.'s father getting ready for the evening putting on his cuff links and then taking the single flower from the flower holder and putting it in his lapel as a dapper finishing touch. In addition to other silverplated items that have unusual and attractive shapes, forms and decorations, this box is a type of electroplate that collectors like to find and will pay good money to own.
It looks like all the silver plating has worn off the surface of this piece over the years, and there is always the question as to whether such a piece should be resilvered.
The answer is that if M.B. wants to have it done, resilvering will not harm the value of her electroplated piece unless the job is botched and the finished product looks unattractive.
This does happen and care should be taken to chose a reputable company that stands behind its work and has impeccable credentials. All sorts of dresser accessories from perfume bottles and powder boxes to hair receivers and jewelry boxes are highly collectible, and the insurance replacement value of this trinket box is between $225 and $300.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of Price It Yourself (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can by mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.)
)
