Text of report for the S1021 Compote by Samuel Hough, derived from Gorham’s Costing Records in the Gorham Archives:

The Gorham Silver with Glass Compote S1021

The record for the S1021 Compote is preserved in the costing ledger for Specials (vol. 36, p. 59).  This volume includes the crème de la crème of Gorham’s specials made between 1889 and 1907.

The record indicates that the Compote was made in April 1893 for the Columbian Exposition held later that year in Chicago.  The piece was part of an extended set which included a silver Plateau (4257) and an Epergne S1020 as well as another Compote S1022.

Each of the two S1021 Compotes that were made consisted of 47 troy ounces 1 pennyweight of sterling silver valued at $56.46.  The glass cost $25, quite a high figure for that era.  Much of the silver was cast, which work took 26 hours and cost $13.  Chasing the casting required 168 hours charged at $67.20.  There were also three and a half hours of turning at $1.05.  The prepared silver and the glass went to a silversmith, whose 80 hours of labor to fashion the compote cost $28.

The compote was then stone polished for 45 minutes ($0.19) and bobbed for four hours ($1).  Finishing also required four hours, and cost $1.40.

Direct silver and labor costs came to $252.45.  This was rounded to $250 and then $10 was added for gilding, $32 for the glass, and $8 for the pattern used in casting.  This brought the total to $300, the factory price for the Compote, which probably had a retail price of $500.