Antique 1850's California Coin Silver Medallion spoon

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Be sure to add me to your favorites list !Check out my other items ! I have a pair of these listed. So gorgeous in the creamy way that only coin silver from this time period can be. A rare set as Barrett & Sherwood is hard to come by. A very well known company in the early and mid nineteenth century, a booming San Fransisco market made these lovely pieces possible. The are large, at 8.75 inches long, and exquisitively made. I barely shined them up, just to show the dimension.....email any questions! Below is some info on Barrett & Sherwood, one of the earliest jewelry shops and silversmiths in the West: According to an 1882 account by John Hittell, "Among the first to engage in the [jewelry] business was the firm of Barrett & Sherwood, who exhibited gold-quartz work at the Worlds Fair in New York in 1853." Robert Sherwood and Samuel Barrett founded the San Francisco establishment of Barrett & Sherwood in 1850. A conclusion base on the following entry published in the March 13, 18 93 , San Francisco Call. He [Robert Sherwood] was born in Londonderry , Ireland , sixty-six years ago, and in March 1850 he arrived in San Francisco . He worked for a while in the mines of Calavaras County , but soon found that he was not cut out for a miner. He returned to San Francisco , and opened a jewelry-store on Clay Street . After a few months he formed a partnership with a man named Barrett. According to the 1860 obituary of Samuel Barrett, "Mr. Barrett was a pioneer in the jewelry business in San Francisco and was held in high esteem by a very extended circle of acquaintances throughout California . The 1852 advertisement of Barrett & Sherwood notes, as do future ads that the firm engaged in the jewelry business as, "Chronometer makers, watch makers, and manufactures and importers of watches and jewelry." Although it does not note gold quartz jewelry it does mention their factory was engaged in manufacturing specimen jewelry. Perhaps this is an early reference to the yet unnamed art of quartz jewelry described in their 1854 advertisement, which states: "This branch of California Art is OUR OWN INVENTION, and we claim to be unrivaled in its manufacture. Our designs are new and tasteful, and the quartz rich and variegated." In 1858, Barrett and Sherwood expound on this claim, "We are the inventors of the art of manufacture quartz rock jewelry." As the inventor of gold quartz jewelry, the work of Barrett & Sherwood is among the most important of the genre. Although advertisement indicate they were a prolific operation, marked or otherwise documented examples are indeed rare. In fact only four such works are known today. The "Brinks" snuff box (see Gallery), "Gibbs" cane (see Gallery), " Hudson " Cane and this watch. In consideration of the rarity of Barrett & Sherwood's work and the fact they were the inventors of the art of manufacturing quartz rock jewelry, this watch is indeed a significant example of 19th century San Francisco craftsmanship. Literature: Brad and Brian Witll, California's Best Old West Art and Antiques , Schiffer 1999, p. 50. Provenance: Jim Mackie; Al and Carol Cali; Witll's; private collection. Fig. 2. Spoons by and attributed to Hamlet (w. in California 1849-c. 1853) and William S. (c. 1809-1890) Jacks, San Francisco , 1849-c. 1853. Top: Spoon stamped " SAN FRANCISCO " on the back of the handle. Gold; length 5 3/8 inches. Private collection. Middle: Spoon stamped " SAN FRANCISCO CAL . BARRETT & SHERWOOD " and engraved "Carroll" on the back of the handle. Gold; length 7 3/8 inches. A similar gold teaspoon marked "MOFFAT" and dated 1849, but not attributed to the Jackses, is in the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut (see Kathryn C. Buhler and Graham Hood, American Silver, Garvan and Other Collections in the Yale University Art Gallery [New Haven, Connecticut, and London, 1970], vol. 2, No. 990). John L. Moffat and Company was in business between c. 1849 and 1853 as a private coiner in San Francisco . Priv... read more

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