COLLECTION 008 · SGC-MS-008
Meriden Silver Plate · Wilcox · C. Rogers & Bros. · International Silver
Factory images and an illustrated 1883 trade catalog reveal the products, ordering systems and separate companies behind the Silver City.
The 1906 account documents a January 24, 1870 factory purchase but prints an inconsistent 1879 organization-paper date. The exact incorporation date remains unresolved.
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1906
Meriden Britannia and Meriden Silver Plate were distinct companies before they became part of International Silver. A 1906 history explains that production bearing the Silver Plate trademark moved into the Britannia works, while the vacated factory received Barbour operations from Hartford. A maker’s mark, a corporation, and a factory building therefore did not always tell the same story.
Charles Bancroft Gillespie and George Munson Curtis; Journal Publishing Co., Meriden; A Century of Meriden: The Silver City, part III; New York Public Library; digitized by Google; Internet Archive
Original source1906
The 1906 book identifies Factory H as the former C. Rogers & Bros. works, one part of the broader Meriden industry.
Charles Bancroft Gillespie and George Munson Curtis; Journal Publishing Co., Meriden; A Century of Meriden: The Silver City, part III; New York Public Library; digitized by Google; Internet Archive
Original source1906
An engraved view labeled Wilcox Silver Plate Co. in 1865. The accompanying history says the firm began as Wilcox Britannia in December 1865 and adopted the Silver Plate name in 1867.
Charles Bancroft Gillespie and George Munson Curtis; Journal Publishing Co., Meriden; A Century of Meriden: The Silver City, part III; New York Public Library; digitized by Google; Internet Archive
Original source1883
The Toronto branch’s cover for the Meriden Silver Plate Company’s Staple Goods catalog.
Meriden Silver Plate Co.; printed by The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford; Illustrated catalogue and price list of staple goods, superior electro-silver plated ware manufactured by The Meriden Silver Plate Co.; Toronto Public Library, Toronto Reference Library; Internet Archive
Original source1883
The title page identifies the distinct Meriden Silver Plate Co., its Meriden factory, and salesrooms in New York, Chicago, and Toronto.
Meriden Silver Plate Co.; printed by The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford; Illustrated catalogue and price list of staple goods, superior electro-silver plated ware manufactured by The Meriden Silver Plate Co.; Toronto Public Library, Toronto Reference Library; Internet Archive
Original source1883
Meriden Silver Plate’s 1883 catalog paired prices with words in brackets. A retailer could telegram a string of those words to specify particular patterns and finishes. Its example begins with PHANTOM for a chased tea set. The catalog turns ornate objects into a compact ordering system that connected the factory, salesrooms, and dealers.
Meriden Silver Plate Co.; printed by The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford; Illustrated catalogue and price list of staple goods, superior electro-silver plated ware manufactured by The Meriden Silver Plate Co.; Toronto Public Library, Toronto Reference Library; Internet Archive
Original source1883
The six-piece Satin Shield service is presented with matching extras, prices and ordering words. Its ornate illustration also serves a practical purpose: a retailer could connect a customer’s choice to a particular product entry. Other pages offer ice pitchers, replacement caster bottles and vases.
Meriden Silver Plate Co.; printed by The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford; Illustrated catalogue and price list of staple goods, superior electro-silver plated ware manufactured by The Meriden Silver Plate Co.; Toronto Public Library, Toronto Reference Library; Internet Archive
Original source1883
Two ice-pitcher sets with goblets, trays, prices, and ordering words. The illustration is set sideways relative to the catalog’s running header.
Meriden Silver Plate Co.; printed by The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford; Illustrated catalogue and price list of staple goods, superior electro-silver plated ware manufactured by The Meriden Silver Plate Co.; Toronto Public Library, Toronto Reference Library; Internet Archive
Original source1883
Replacement caster bottles in several shapes, with catalog numbers and per-dozen prices.
Meriden Silver Plate Co.; printed by The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford; Illustrated catalogue and price list of staple goods, superior electro-silver plated ware manufactured by The Meriden Silver Plate Co.; Toronto Public Library, Toronto Reference Library; Internet Archive
Original source1883
Decorative vases with floral motifs, illustrated and priced in the Meriden Silver Plate Company’s catalog.
Meriden Silver Plate Co.; printed by The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., Hartford; Illustrated catalogue and price list of staple goods, superior electro-silver plated ware manufactured by The Meriden Silver Plate Co.; Toronto Public Library, Toronto Reference Library; Internet Archive
Original source1893
Rogers & Brother of Waterbury advertises a Columbia-pattern salad fork named for the exposition. This is a different firm from Meriden Britannia’s 1847 Rogers Bros. brand; it later joined International Silver.
Moses P. Handy, editor; W. B. Conkey Company, Chicago; The Official Directory of the World's Columbian Exposition, May 1st to October 30th, 1893; Library of Congress; Internet Archive
Original sourceUndated postcard; after the 1898 company formation
The postcard labels International Silver’s Factory E and general office in Meriden. The source’s 1897 date conflicts with the company name, so this archive does not repeat it as a verified exposure date.
COLLECTION HISTORY
Meriden silver was made by several companies. The 1906 city history dates Wilcox Britannia’s organization to December 1865 and its change to Wilcox Silver Plate in 1867. It places Meriden Silver Plate’s formation in the developments of 1869–1870 and records the purchase of the Canfield factory at Colony and Cross streets on January 24, 1870. Its inconsistent 1879 date for organization papers remains a question for the original filings. [MS-012]
Meriden Silver Plate’s 1883 catalog paired prices with words in brackets. A retailer could telegram a string of those words to specify particular patterns and finishes. Its example begins with PHANTOM for a chased tea set. The catalog turns ornate objects into a compact ordering system that connected the factory, salesrooms, and dealers. [MS-006]
Meriden Britannia and Meriden Silver Plate were distinct companies before they became part of International Silver. A 1906 history explains that production bearing the Silver Plate trademark moved into the Britannia works, while the vacated factory received Barbour operations from Hartford. A maker’s mark, a corporation, and a factory building therefore did not always tell the same story. [MS-015]
Later histories describe a gradual end to local production: Connecticut Explored dates the plated-hollowware division’s closure to March 20, 1981 and the remaining silver-business sale to 1983. Those events concern particular operations; they should not be treated as one closing day for every company in this collection. [MS-016]
The coded ordering words in the 1883 catalog connect decorative silverware with the practical world of dealers and communications. A telegram could name a pattern and finish without describing an elaborate object from scratch. This was a business system as well as a design catalog. Corporate consolidation complicated the relation between products and place: a familiar maker’s mark could continue while production moved into another works. The collection therefore follows multiple companies without collapsing them into one founding story. Later closure dates also belong to particular divisions or transactions. Comparing objects, marks, addresses and dated advertisements allows a student to reconstruct a chain of evidence rather than guess an object’s history from one name. [MS-012] [MS-006] [MS-015]
The 1906 account documents a January 24, 1870 factory purchase but prints an inconsistent 1879 organization-paper date. The exact incorporation date remains unresolved.
THE SEARCHABLE CATALOG
Search includes catalog notes and the OCR text included with this edition. OCR may misread names or dates; use the original scan to verify a match.
MS-001 · Photographs · 1906
Meriden Silver Plate · Wilcox · C. Rogers & Bros. · International Silver
A tree-framed photograph of Factory A, International Silver Co., identified in the caption as Meriden Silver Plate Co.
Read item & source notesED-IG-MS-01 · Photographs · circa 1880–1890 object; photograph undated
Meriden Silver
Meriden Silver Plate Company combined metalwork and glass in specialized tableware such as this nut bowl.
Read item & source notesED-IG-MS-02 · Photographs · circa 1880–1890 object; photograph undated
Meriden Silver
An elaborate epergne shows how Meriden Silver Plate Company turned the dining table into a display of ornament.
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PHOTO-64688374 · Photographs · 2016-10-28
Meriden Silver
Jean G. Theobald for Wilcox Silver Plate Company, tea set, in silver-plate and bakelite, Meriden, CT, 1928, in the Art Institute of Chicago
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PHOTO-64302606 · Photographs · Object circa 1880; photograph date unrecorded
Meriden Silver
A Meriden Silver Plate Company butter pat takes the form of an artist’s palette and brushes. The date belongs to the object, not necessarily to the museum photograph.
Read item & source notesExtract the ZIP and open START_HERE.html. It includes the catalog, selected images, acquired source text, credits and a searchable SQLite database. New photo additions are hosted in the SGC media library and require an internet connection; original bundled images remain available offline.
