Antique silver sugar bowl – what’s it worth?

[cogar]

The wife had this in her “yard sale” this weekend and was probably going to sell it for $2, but cold, rain and lack of buyers it didn’t sell. And her and the daughter was checking it out, for whatever reason, and it didn’t say “sterling” and it didn’t say “plate” so she brought it up to me and said “find out what this is”.

It is 2 5/8” high at the center and 3” high at the handles, which looks like “duck heads” to me, and has what looks to be the initials TT on the front and is marked on the bottom, to wit, (see picture also):

Made and
guaranteed by
Meriden B Company
124 ˝
USA

I searched on the name and found this on “WikiAnswers”, which was quite a surprise, to wit:
 

Meriden B Company, was a manufacturer that made silver ware out of "black silver" the kind of silver that was economical doing the time, it still had the flare of expensive silver settings and today the silver along is of high value, since refined silver was getting high in value and the price of refined silver was costly at the time, Meriden B Company started offering silver that was not "refined" before it was marked, it was before "nickle silver" so the silver is still 100 percent!

The product it self will appear black before you polish it, which should be left in that state if you want to sell it. All Meriden B Company is over 100 years old and have a historical value, family's that can trace back 100 year will know about the Meriden B Company product.

So, my question is, is that above statement correct, and if so, ...
1.when was it made? 
2. does "100 percent" mean pure silver?
3. what is that little sucker worth?

Thanks much, Sam C

[sapphire]

Came across this article.......

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/lifestyle/columnists/x280666225/Meriden-silver-plate-has-little-value

[ironlord1963]

    I believe your little sugar bowl is made of Britianna Metal, White Metal, or more often known as German Silver. Meriden was known for making items from this.  I have a Sugar bowl also made by them that is hallmarked as White metal.  As for the value, not usually that much, have tried may times to sell my Sugar bowl with no sucess.  They are hard to find though, have only seen a couple in my wanderings around.

[KC]

Most of Meridien Britannia Company's sugar bowls were made with a sugar lid.  This is most likely a waste bowl unless you can see wear marks where a lid would have rubbed being put on and off.

[waywardangler]

 silver that was not "refined" before it was marked, it was before "nickle silver" so the silver is still 100 percent!

Not sure what that means as nickel silver/German silver has 0 silver in it.  Nickel/German silver is an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc.  It does not turn black with age but rather dull silver to dull goldish brown before it goes to rusty color looking depending on the %composition of the 3 metals.  I am very familiar with German silver as many old fishing reels were made from it (pre-1930s).  It does not look nickel/German silver from the photo to me.

The Meriden Britannia Company was formed in 1852 in Meriden, Connecticut. The Rogers Bros firm was purchased by Meriden Britannia in 1862, thereby acquiring the 1847 Rogers Bros line. In 1878, they had a store at Union Square in New York City and a manufacturing facility in West Meriden, CT. According to their 1878 catalogue, the company won a first place medal at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the "large variety of silver plated white metal hollow ware, of excellent quality and finish, and of tasteful designs." They were one of the original companies that joined together to form the International Silver Co. in 1898. http://www.silvercollecting.com/silvermarksM.html

So this is silver plated white metal hollow ware.  

How old or new is the U.S.A. marking on metalware?  I think it is 1940s or so but that doesn't jive with the company info.

[regularjoe2]

We can all agree that it's 100% silver-colored , can't we ?

[ironlord1963]

     From what I remember reading about the Merdian Britannia company, was they started mostly with making Britannia items, a bit better then pewter, can be polished to give it a almost silver look. and was not a expensive a silverplate.  After the company was bought by International, they mostly made the Britianna items to be plated at the other plants.  International Did continue to use the Merdian Hallmark for many years after, not always the case in their companies they bought.   I have seen a fair number of silverplated items with the Merdian Hallmark, usually along with IS.   The item I have was polished at first, I did that thinking it was silverplate, However it does not shine up to look silverplate, I will shine up to almost look pewter.    As for it being a waste bowl, I think mine is a sugar bowl, appears to have a lip for the lid.  So I always considered this a sugar bowl with a missing lid.  As for Cogar's not sure such a fine line between the two, usually only difference is the lid.

[cogar]

Thanks all, and I should have explained that picture of the bottom, it is actually not a reddish brown color. The pictures were taken on my covered deck and that is the reflection of the Redwood stain on the underside of the deck roof. I’ll post the other picture but the Mark doesn’t show as clear. The wife polished the bottom, which was “blackish”, with her shirt tail and it looks as silvery to me as silver can look.

And I also forgot to mention that it is quite heavy and there is little imperfections all over it, which I don’t understand unless it was due to the casting process and which you can see in the enlarged photo below. And no rust, no peeling, no nothing but the oxidized black color.

The initials “TT” implies it was made especially for someone. And why was it marked “Guaranteed by” and not marked as being “plate”, “electro-plate”, etc., etc.?

[Chinese Antique Furniture]

Ironlord, I'm not into silver, but the proportions on your sugar bowl are simply superb! 

[sapphire]

Meriden's 1883 catalogue online.  This is probably just a sampling of what they produced.  There is a note
on the second page stating that all their products are guaranteed to be the highest grade of plate. 

Amazing pieces in this book!

http://www.archive.org/stream/illustradedcata00meriuoft#page/n0/mode/2up

[KC]

Really neat site Sapphire.  Just turns the pages so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o--o slow!  Ha!

[ironlord1963]

Yea Thanks Sapphire wonderful link.