Sterling Arts & Crafts Handled Dish, Shreve C.1915

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Sterling Silver Arts and Crafts Round Handled Dish from Shreve & Co. circa 1915 Plate Measures Approx. 8" in Diameter and 5" High and Weighs 7.39 Troy Ounces. It is Stamped on the Bottom with the Shreve & Co. Mark.Dish comes from the Estate of an Internationally Renowned Silver Appraiser who recently passed away.Dish is in EXCELLENT CONDITION. Shreve & Co. History * *taken from /store/information.php?info_id=6#1852 1852 The Shreve Jewelry Store Opens Its Doors The year is 1852. It is four years after the discovery of gold. Along with thousands of others, two brothers, George and Samuel Shreve set out from their homes and their jewelry business in New York, to take part in the new found wealth of the gold and silver boom in California.Upon their arrival in the City by the Bay, George and Samuel Shreve opened the doors of a small jewelry shop, The Shreve Jewelry Store, at the corner of Montgomery and Clay. Showcasing a wide range of European fancy goods, as well as California-manufactured jewelry, the store launched into the design and manufacture of fine quality silver, which earned them a reputation of excellence throughout the century. 1894 The Shreve Jewelry Store Becomes Shreve & Co. After the deaths of the two intrepid Shreve brothers, the store was incorporated as Shreve & Co. in 1894, with George Rodman, the son of George Shreve, as president and partner Albert J. Lewis as the majority stockholder. The store now stood on Market Street, across from the Grand Palace Hotel. Stately carriages rolled by with women adorned in feathers and finery...their escorts clad in top hats and waistcoats. Fashion of the day dictated that men wear wide cravats accented by diamonds and gold stickpins. Women wore many pieces of fine jewelry - brooches, necklaces, rings...and many bejeweled bracelets on each wrist. The style setters of this era lived in opulence. The mines, railroads and rich farmlands had spawned a new wealth on San Francisco's Gold Coast. Inside the store, boys dressed in the Shreve & Co. livery of maroon jacket, coat, shirt and tie matched the quiet elegance of the store. These boys were entrusted with the responsibility of taking money, mostly sacks of twenty dollar gold pieces, to the central Cashier's Desk, as well as bringing merchandise to the gift wrapping desk, a tradition which is still carried out during the holiday season to this day. 1906 Shreve & Co. Survives The Great San Francisco Earthquake In March, 1906, Shreve & Co. was moved to the ground floor of a building at Post and Grant. Newly built, this eleven-story building was constructed with the newest engineering technology of the time. The building was named Shreve & Co., in deference to its principal tenant. Just one month later, disaster struck. The Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906 destroyed most of the city. However, due to its construction, the Shreve & Co. building remained standing. Immediately after the earthquake, loyal Shreve & Co. employees rushed to lock away valuable items in the vault, thus protecting the store's assets from the fire which raged for three days. Upon returning to the charred ruins of the store, the employees found the safe intact, but had to wait three weeks before it cooled sufficiently to open. Aside from a few scorched records, everything was unharmed! Shreve & Co. moved into temporary quarters in Oakland for the two years it took to restore the building to its former elegance. During this period, Shreve & Co. developed its first line of flatware and published their first illustrated catalogs which featured jewelry and novelties, as well as their own silverware designs. 1914 Shreve & Co. Supports The War Effort When World War I broke out, Shreve & Co. was converted to war production, manufacturing airplane parts for the government. The silversmiths were instructed on how to handle sledge hammers, rather than the delicate instruments of the jewelry-making trade. At the war's end, Shreve & Co. quickly went back to producing luxury ... read more

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