www.925-1000.com

His initial mark -- shown in Hollan's Philadelphia -- is A • S

Alexander was several times bankrupt after the short-lived partnership c 1796-1797, with Wiltberger. Failing in a shop of his own, he worked for Anthony Simmons before formally becoming his partner in Simmons & Alexander, c 1804-1808. Sometime after he moved to Richmond VA, likely to escape his ...

Neither Alford or Allardice are mentioned in Hollan's Philadelphia, nor any makers with the initials SA.
That form of foliate back (from what I can make out in the image) was more popular in Boston c 1775-1790. That said, I do not have any likely candidate to offer.

The wholesale marks are Joseph Seymour & Company of Syracuse NY. They were one of the major bulk manufacturers of silver flatware and held several design patents. D. D. R. Ormsby of Homer NY is known to have been one of their retail customers.
The obscured center design is a capital S

It is called a Dove of Peace. There are many variations (this a particularly nice one), but no one has done a real image survey, so without a maker's mark, it will be luck matching it with a known smith's swage.

From the late 1820s on, silver flatware was being produced at factory level for sale to retailers across the eastern seaboard and the midwest. Such goods were often unmarked, left to be stamped by the ultimate seller with his name. For many, it was not worth the time and expense to purchase a suitab...

Winterthur has a similar coffin spoon with this mark recorded as unknown maker. There is some speculation that it may be Jonathan Trott Jr. working in New London CT c. 1800-1813.

The tongs were manufactured by the wholesale firm of Hall & Hewson in Albany NY. The pair of Benedicts, likely father and son, were retail jewelers in Skaneateles NY. The senior, J. H., had been the partner of Asa Munger, c 1818-1820 in Auburn NY.

I did a quick sort of my records and found around 150 examples: arch, engraved coffin, engraved crescent, engraved oval, engraved pointed arch, engraved pointed arch, wigglework engraved pointed arch, two line engraved pointed, wigglework engraved pointed, engraved pointed, roulette engraved pointed...

Incised drops are not as common on American spoons as swaged drops, but are not uncommon, either. In my collection, they number around 15%. They are in a variety of forms -- arch, pointed arch, spade, oval, crescent, coffin, square, etc. by many different makers from the 1790s to the 1850s. Interest...

Missing its glass liner

The incuse JBA and 925 are definitely punched over existing incised marks. The handles are stylistically too heavy and poorly integrated into the design. Compare the carefully raised/engraved acanthus leaves (likely the only original decoration) on the base with those above, which are inferior in un...

American. W&B would be the retail seller. The three marks are an unidentified, but very prolific New York City wholesale manufacturer.

dragonflywink wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 8:27 am Are you sure it opens? Looks to me like the stopper for a bottle or decanter...

~Cheryl

I agree; that does seem the likeliest idea, given the monogram and the orientation of the marks on the neck.

Might be way off, but my grandmother had a similarly shaped item in porcelain. Under the cap was a sponge for moistening postage stamps. If it is that, it would explain why the lid is stuck on.

Per Hollan's Philadelphia Established in 1837. The 1850 Mercantile Census reported they were making $35,000 worth of silverware a year. They established a larger factory in 1852 and continued producing wholesale goods into the 1870s. Advertised in 1857 they had manufactured goods for Bailey & Ki...

Are you saying the three marks on your spoon do not match the ones Silverly posted, which are the well-established wholesale marks of Taylor & Lawrie?

To answer your initial question, yes. Gould, Stowell & Ward were watchmakers and merchant jewelers, buying in silver goods from wholesale makers. The firm only existed from 1855 to February 1857, when Abel Stowell left to open his own shop.

Yes, that is Warner's mark. The queen's head/D is a Baltimore standard mark
Warner

There were many German-American societies during most of the 19th century. These sorts of commemorative pieces are not uncommon, though many more were probably disposed of when affiliation with Germany became unpopular. The mark shown was adopted in 1863. Gorham did not switch to only using sterling...