🥇 BANNER Andrew Ellicott Warner escutcheon plate

[Peaches]

Found today at old house site. I have not been able to find markings online. Seems to be silver with AEW, then maybe a mark with a cross in the top left and bottom right corners, what appears to be a G or CR, and the a silhouette.

 

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[HCW]

Great work Cru'!
If in doubt ask Crusader.

We have a winner, found the AEW match;
Congrats to the 2 above researchers, it is silver & a famous bit at that!
Andrew Ellicott Warner, born 27 Nov 1786, died 1870

 

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[HCW]

I have found multiple silver items, some marked sterling, tarnished like this.

Normally yes, but even the same silversmith would stamp them all different directions. Seen it many times, but I have no reason why. Seen many up-side-down.

To the OP there is no need to test it (Normally a destructive method) or clean it. There is no speculation when IDing silver that came from the ground, trust me I can tell it a million miles away. Silver-smiths did not hallmark silver plate in this manner. It SCREAMS silver to me, I dig a lot of it.

 

[BigWaveDave]

What an incredible piece!....just beautiful!
Congrats on the Banner find!

 

[MichiganMan]

FoundinNC nailed it. It appears that this is a terrific historic piece related to Maryland's history. The second hallmark is from the coat of arms of George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore. (What do you think Bill D?) The Calvert family coat of arms was later used for the design of the well-known state flag of Maryland. If indeed the OP's piece was manufactured in 1802, it would have been a very early piece by Andrew Ellicott Warner (1786-1870). IMO this looks like a banner- quality find.

Flag History

According to Ancestry: Andrew was "Apprenticed about 1799 to Cuthbert Warner [his father] in Baltimore MD [SUP]1[/SUP]"

Then "He worked from 1805 to 1870 as a silversmith and jeweler in Baltimore MD at 113 Green Street, 1810; at 5 North Gay Street, 1812-1849; 10 North Gay Street, 1850-1870. [SUP]30"[/SUP]

Also "He was a partner from 1805 to 1812 with Thomas Warner in Baltimore MD as T & A E WARNER."

-- So sometime in between his apprenticeship with Cuthbert Warner in 1799 and partnering with Thomas Warner in 1805 he made this piece...[if indeed it is from 1802].
-- Also of note his son, of the exact same name, apprentice under his father about 1830.

 

[CRUSADER]

I'm glad this made BANNER like it deserved. CONGRATS
It's what makes this site great. It was posted with no real knowledge of what the OP really had. With the help of Tnet researchers we came to a conclusion that its an important US Historical piece.
I still believe that its a Museum piece & if the right Academics were hunted down they would be interested in recording is combination of Hallmarks. We, as detectorist have a unique responsibility to add to the historic collective knowledge when finding rare pieces like this.
Of course my assumption that this mark is unknown maybe incorrect, & at the very least it's the first time its been seen on this type of plate, but all information recorded in the right place is good information & the journey with the right experts only builds on your knowledge as well.

 

[MichiganMan]

I agree Tea Caddy Box plate is most likely.
I really think the right Museum or collector needs to be found next.

If were Captain Jack Aubrey I would say "An extra ration of rum for Cru".

Also, that makes sense as a Tea Caddy because that stuff was like gold at that time.

 

[trapperart]

Man I'm glad this got the attention it deserves, congrats on a great find

 

[CRUSADER]

If were Captain Jack Aubrey I would say "An extra ration of rum for Cru".

Also, that makes sense as a Tea Caddy because that stuff was like gold at that time.

Yeap, all period tea caddies had key holes & often used expensive materials in its construction. I think it highly likely.

 

[halfdime]

In all my years following TNet, this might be the most amazing piece I've ever seen! Of course, my memory isn't what it used to be.... I'd love to someday find a gold coin; if I had to choose, however, I'd want to find this piece instead!

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Huge congratulations on your banner silver Peaches! As I said before, this is one of my favorite finds on here and I'm so glad it will be seen by many more members now. So for like the 5th time ... Sick find!

 

[OutdoorAdv]

I mentioned this in a post on this thread a week ago, but its such a cool piece of history that I wanted to mention it again for the people just seeing this.

When researching Andrew Ellicott Warner, I found some great information on the finagrave site Andrew Ellicott Warner (1786 - 1870) - Find A Grave Memorial

What was most interesting to me was that Andrew and his brother Thomas served as captains in the 39th Regiment of the Maryland Militia during the War of 1812 and fought in the defense of Baltimore in 1814 at North Point and Fort McHenry. The defense of Fort McHenry was the battle that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem "The Star Spangled Banner" after he witnessed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. The Star Spangled Banner flag is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington DC in a very cool exhibit (I've seen it a couple times).

Here is the flag in 1873 and if you haven't seen it yet, the size of it is incredible.





What's amazing to me is that Andrew Warner fought under this very flag and its these bits of history that really get me going in this hobby. This is a well deserved banner for a piece of silver by an early American Silversmith and a man that was present at and participated in some pivotal moments in American history.

 

[fishstick]

Doesn't get much better than that on this side of the pond!!!!!!!!!!!! BIG CONGRATZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DFW_THer]

'MURICA! Ok, I had to. Just chiming in to congratulate the finder and all the researchers here. Great read.

Plated.. LOL! (Did we even have the technology to make plated item in 1802?)

 

[montcalm]

it,s nice to find such an history piece Cong .And the guys did a good job with the id, make it more interesting. Imagine without internet would had take years and may be you would still be looking for .

 

[unclemac]

now let's work on the initials on the front...who did it belong to?

 

[CRUSADER]

now let's work on the initials on the front...who did it belong to?

Its a long shot as its only 1 letter, a 'H', so one would have to assume the family surname, which will not narrow the search very much. Although, we do know the time-frame & if a prominent family H lived nearby you at least can speculate with a reasonable level of probability.

 

[cudamark]

I'd head back to that house site and grid the heck out of it! Unless that house was owned by the family, you kinda wonder how something like this would end up there.

 

[jambone]

Amazing find, congrats Peaches! Beautiful!

Oh, and someone needs to stop by and have a bite (you know who you are)...

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Its a long shot as its only 1 letter, a 'H', so one would have to assume the family surname, which will not narrow the search very much. Although, we do know the time-frame & if a prominent family H lived nearby you at least can speculate with a reasonable level of probability.

Another angle would be if there were any surviving documents from the Warner silversmith business. Although a needle in a haystack since any documents were probably 1) lost in a fire, 2) tossed in the trash, 3) sitting in some attic somewhere, 4) sitting in some attic and then lost in a fire (haha), OR 5) (and the most unlikely) sitting in an archive or museum. I'm not sure how much throughput a typical silversmith would have as far as product produced, but there could be a needle in a haystack somewhere with a sales receipt for a tea caddy escutcheon inscribed with a letter H.

 

[redbeardrelics]

Is the finder willing to give us the name of the County it was found in ? It may give clues as to the "H" owners name? Hopkins & Hess come to mind when thinking of Maryland.