Vintage Pewter Goblets

[KevinM]

I purchased these pewter goblets last week from the TS and have not been able to find out much about them.

They have an emblem on them that says "Writers Artists" and on the bottom of 1 it says BRIDGEHDQTRS which I'm sure is short for Bridge Headquarters. There is also an "R"and "S" each inside a circle. They measure about 4" in height and about 2 3/4" wide on the top rim.

Does anyone know who made them, when they were made and which Writers Artists group they may be attributed to?

Thanks!
Kevin

[KC]

Pewter Touchmarks aren't as documented as silver marks.  The R S in the conjoined circle is most likely the Pewterer's initials.  Many times they are like those you would find in silver plate.  There is a R S in conjoined circles in silverplate http://www.silvercollection.it/englishsilvermarksXRDUE3.html  but not sure if that is the same!

[KevinM]

Thanks KC. I did see that link already in my searches and I wasn't sure if these were also made by Robert Stewart in 1910 as listed there for the conjoined circles maker marl. I wasn't able to find any pewter items made by him anywhere.

[AndrewCampbell]

Thanks for sharing your findings with us here. I had some silver flatware too few years back but they are up in storage. After reading your post, now I am curious to know the origins of my purchase too which includes some beautiful antique pieces too. Some historical facts could sometimes be really fascinating and educational at the same time.

[KC]

Silver is so much easier to research than pewter overall.

[KevinM]

Thanks for sharing your findings with us here. I had some silver flatware too few years back but they are up in storage. After reading your post, now I am curious to know the origins of my purchase too which includes some beautiful antique pieces too. Some historical facts could sometimes be really fascinating and educational at the same time.

You're welcome Andrew! You'll have to post some of you're purchases sometime that you are looking for information on. It's really the historical facts that bring out the person behind the item that created it, the history and time period, and give it personality and place a name, face and location to it.

[Ipcress]

i thought this might be relevant

In 1932, there was a bridge tournament for Writers and Artists, being conducted by Bridge Headquarters, Inc. and held at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. 39 teams from some of the most noted newspapers and publications like the New York Times, Saturday Evening Post, Simon and Schuster etc, and each team with four members. Maybe the winners each received a goblet ? A newspaper article claimed it was the largest contract bridge tournament ever held

They're nice ( i find most pewter to be a bit dull or poorly made ) and i'd think about $80-120. If we could confirm the above, then more.

[KevinM]

Wow Ipcress, thanks for finding that! I never searched for Bridge Headquarters with the Inc at the end but I now see some hits on that search but can't find anything mentioning 4 pewter goblets. Without that it will be hard to attribute it to a tournament. I did see a Bridge book by Bridge Headquarters Inc from 1931 so the time period does look correct to me. Not a lot out there with some of the keywords you have listed in your message but a few old newspaper articles. I'll keep looking around.

Thanks again!

[mart]

Excellent work Ipcress !!  Lord knows I didn`t find a thing !!