Undated
BENEDICT / E.P.N.S. B.M.M. / B [bee] B / MADE IN U.S.A. / PERIOD PLATE / CHINESE CHIPPENDALE
Bee flanked by B letters inside a diamond, accompanied by the Period Plate line name.
stamped
Silver
Benedict Silver marks
Benedict Silver marks include stamped “B.M.Co / BENEDICT PLATE” lettering. Benedict Silver worked in East Syracuse, New York, United States.
- Active years
- 1894–1953
- Country
- United States
- City / region
- East Syracuse, New York
- Marks
- 5
1894 organization; 1902 incorporation; 1906 reorganization; East Syracuse business closed 1953.
What to look for
- Read the complete trade name and device. Empire Brand, Indestructo and Period Plate occur with Benedict identification.
- E.P.N.S., Nickel Silver and Quadruple Plate describe base metal or plating; they do not identify sterling silver.
- The bee inside a diamond is a company device. Its resemblance to a heraldic or assay punch does not establish a silver fineness.
- Numbers beside a repeated device are catalogue or model clues. A different number alone is not a different maker’s mark.
Marks & lettering
5 marks
Undated
BENEDICT MFG CO / QUADRUPLE PLATE
Company name curves around a circle, with plating wording beneath.
stamped
Undated
EMPIRE BRAND / QUADRUPLE PLATE / M.S.B. MFG. CO.
Empire trade name and M.S.B. initials form a circular stamp.
stamped
Undated
BENEDICT / INDESTRUCTO / SHEFFIELD PLATE / NICKEL SILVER
Indestructo is prominent between the maker name and Sheffield Plate wording.
stamped
About Benedict Silver
M. S. Benedict Manufacturing Company was established in 1894 in East Syracuse, New York. Its early business supplied the jewelry trade with silver-plated and gold-plated metal goods. The range extended beyond tableware to desk sets, clock cases and decorative novelties, with cast, stamped and embossed ornament. Silver-plated flatware and hollowware remained important products, while a smaller output included sterling novelties.
The business was incorporated in 1902. After the founder’s death, his son Harry L. Benedict became the principal owner. A reorganization followed in 1906. In 1907 the company bought Onondaga Metal Shops and transferred that workshop to its East Syracuse plant. The acquired operation became Benedict Art Studios, making hand-worked copper, brass and iron in the Arts and Crafts manner alongside the main factory’s broader commercial range.
Benedict used several names and devices on its goods, including Empire Brand, Indestructo and Period Plate. The Art Studios’ hammer-and-anvil device and later bee-in-diamond device belong to the same company’s wider metalworking history. The East Syracuse business continued into the middle of the twentieth century and closed in 1953. The Canadian Benedict-Proctor business had a separate later history.
Also known as: M.S. Benedict Mfg. Co. · Benedict Mfg. Co. · Benedict Art Studios · Empire Brand · Indestructo · Period Plate · M. S. Benedict Manufacturing Company; later Benedict Manufacturing Company
Look-alikes & how to tell them apart
Benedict-Proctor Manufacturing Company, Canada
The related Canadian business used its own BP and lamp devices and continued beyond the East Syracuse factory. Read the full company wording and country.
A. C. Benedict & Co., New York
This is a different nineteenth-century New York silversmith. A.C. initials and sterling or coin-silver context differ from M.S. Benedict’s East Syracuse plating marks.
Gustav Stickley / Craftsman Workshops
Arts and Crafts forms overlap with Benedict Art Studios. Use the stamped factory device; similar hammered copper and rivets do not make a piece Stickley.