Text of report for the S1040 Vase by Samuel Hough, derived from Gorham's Costing Records in the Gorham Archives:
The Gorham Glass & Silver Vase S1040
The costing slip for the S1040 Vase (box 7) indicates that it was completed 13 April 1893, in time to he included in the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
The source for the glass is not indicated in these early records, although its cost, $15.50, is noted.
The silver content was pretty substantial— 19 troy oz. 14 dwt. valued at $23.64.
Some of the silver was spun, to form the base, which took 8 hours at a labor cost of $3. Sonic of the silver was turned for an hour ($0.30): and some of the silver
was cast. The two handles, casting pattern 12267, took two hours; the two festoons, casting pattern 0516, took half an hour, and the two faces, casting pattern
2117 (used on hollowware and some flatware in the 1860s), required an hour. The three and a half hours of casting cost $1.75. The cast pieces needed
extensive preparation (chasing to clean off the roughness) of 13 hours, charged at $5.20.
What I believe happened then was that the prepared silver went to a silversmith, who assembled the silver "frame" of the vase. The silver was chased for22
hours (labor cost added later). Then silver and glass were returned to the silversmith, who fashioned the vase. The total silversmith's time was 33 hours at
$10.50. (This is premised on the fact that I can't imagine the chasing would he done with the glass in place.)
Polishing consisted of 1 1/4 hours of bobbing, $0.31; finishing took 1 1/4 hours at $0.44.
The total of direct silver and (most) labor costs came to $43.34. Overhead (2o%) of $9.07 made a total of $54.41; profit (30%) of $13.60 brought the sum to $68.01,
which was rounded to $79 for the net manufacturing price. Then $3 was added for gilding, $17 for the chasing, and $21 for the glass, all of which brought the net
factory price to $120.00.
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