Fish serving set is a catch
Q. I have enclosed a picture of an antique sterling silver knife and fork fish set. They each have either ivory or bone handles and are in very good condition. The set is in the original blue fabric-lined box. Marked on the fork are the letters J.R.S. and also a crown. Can you tell me how old the set is and its value?
A. You have a Victorian silver-plated knife and fork fish set that was made in the late 1800s or the very early 1900s. The set was used for serving fish dinners. As a rule, the knives were around 11 to 12 inches long and the forks were around 9 to 10 inches long. John Round and Sons used the mark you described. They were located in Sheffield, England, from 1874 to 1962. The handles were made of bone. Many similar sets were made in both England and the United States. Sterling silver serving pieces were always marked sterling. Since yours didn't include that in the mark, they are silver plated.
Silver plated fish sets with bone handles are selling in the range of $50 to $100.
Q. This mark is on the back of two ironstone dishes that I bought at a garage sale. Each dish is crescent-shaped and about 6 inches long. They are decorated with pastel flowers against a white background. I bought them to use as guest soap dishes in the powder room. Since then, I was told they were used to place bones from fish and were part of a set of dinnerware.
Anything you can tell me about the mark, vintage and value of my dishes will be appreciated.
A. Anchor Pottery was located in Trenton, New Jersey, from 1884 to 1927. It was founded by Israel Lacey, and James Norris was the plant manager. They made semi-porcelain, and both cream and white granite. They made mostly dinnerware and wash sets. When the plant closed in 1927, Fulper Pottery Company took it over. Bone dishes were crescent-shaped to fit snugly next to dinner plates and were usually part of a dinner set.
Your semi-porcelain bones dishes were made around 1904 and would probably be worth $10 to $15 each.
• Address your questions to Anne McCollam, P.O. Box 247, Notre Dame, IN 46556. Items of a general interest will be answered in this column. Due to the volume of inquiries, she cannot answer individual letters.
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