Vintage EAM Elgin American Mfg Sterling Silver Porringer Bowl 138g 7"

Description

Vintage Elgin American Manufacturing sterling silver 925 number 2066 porringer bowl with pierced handle. Engraved with the initials JDSG.

""The Elgin American story started when Max Eppenstein began working in the jewellery quarter of New York in the late 1870s. In 1880 Solomon Eppenstein joined his brother and together they ran the M C Eppenstein & Company, (aka Eppenstein Brothers Company). The premises were located at 67 Washington St, Chicago. Initially the firm was only involved in the wholesale jewellery trade. In 1888, the Eppenstein Brothers established a company manufacturing watchcases with the expertise of Thomas Duncan, an established watchmaker. The venture was named The Illinois Watchcase Company. Thomas Duncan managed this concern. 

In 1989 another subsidiary was set up and this was named the Elgin American Manufacturing Company, often abbreviated to EAM. This company would concentrate on the crafting of cases, buttons and lockets. The ‘handsomely enamelled’ lockets were made using the same techniques which produced the watch cases. The Illinois Watchcase Company was still producing watches even though the business practices of the brothers had made them enemies within the watch trade. 

In the spring of 1890 The Illinois Watchcase Company relocated to Elgin, IL. The new location brought about the desire for a new name -The Elgin Watchcase Company. However, this name was very similar to an old established (c.1866) and highly regarded concern known as the Elgin National Watch Inc. Protests that this would cause confusion were taken up by lawyers and the new name was not granted. 

The brothers’ solution was to create a line of watches prefixed with the name ‘Elgin’. For example the ‘Elgin Commander’. The Eppenstiens registered the names as their own. A court case ensued with the brothers being banned from using this prefix. The brothers were wealthy enough to engage a first rate legal team who pursued the matter all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

In 1901, after much legal wrangling, the court ruled that as ‘Elgin’ was an actual location it could not be trademarked and therefore the Eppenstein brothers could use the word ‘Elgin’ on any of their products or in any of their company names. However, they decided to keep the name The Illinois Watchcase Company.

In 1921 Max Eppenstein died. Solomon became the company president. Max’s son, Louis, was appointed to the role of Vice-President. The 1920s saw the growth of the novelties / vanities side of the business. Sterling silver and silver plated vanities with wrist straps were manufactured and the demand for these was high.

The Illinois Watchcase Company was still producing cases until the 1940s. The company went from strength to strength and in the 1940s, which is widely considered to be heyday of American novelty compact manufacturing, they were at the forefront, producing many different styles with the most appealing and glamorous lid decorations. 

Elgin American were famous for their novelty compacts too. They were considered to be novelty compacts as they often resembled other items.""

Condition

Good Overall - Several dents

Dimensions

7” x 5.25” x 1.5” (Width x Depth x Height) / 137.9 g