Rogers & Brother; later International Silver
From 1858
ROGERS & BRO. A1
Star precedes ROGERS & BRO.; A1 follows the singular BRO.
stamped · silver or silverplate · Waterbury, Connecticut
Ware & regional marks
Rogers silver marks
Rogers silver marks include stamped “WM. A. ROGERS” on silver or silverplate.
- Products
- Silverplated flatware, Serving ware, Hollowware, Some sterling and coin silver
- Marks
- 5
Several separate businesses, not one continuous firm. Connecticut Rogers partnerships were active before the brothers’ joint 1847 business; later brands continued through twentieth-century successor companies.
What to look for
- Copy the complete name, initials and symbols. Wm. A. Rogers, Rogers & Bro. and 1847 Rogers Bros. identify different businesses or brands.
- Read 1847 as part of the brand. It is not the manufacture date of every piece that carries it.
- Read STERLING, coin-silver descriptions and silverplate grade terms separately from the maker’s name. A1 is a plate grade, not a sterling fineness mark.
- An eagle-and-star Wm. Rogers signature needs context: the mark family was used on early coin silver and later licensed silverplate.
Key makers & their marks
5 marks
Meriden Britannia; later International Silver
From 1862
1847 ROGERS BROS / WARRANTED
Elongated outlined cartouche includes 1847 and WARRANTED.
stamped · silver or silverplate · Meriden, Connecticut
Simeon L. & George H. Rogers Company
From 1900
SIMEON L. & GEORGE H. / ROGERS COMPANY
Two full personal names, unlike the abbreviated Wm. or 1847 brands.
stamped · silver or silverplate
Wm. A. Rogers; later Oneida
Undated
WM. A. ROGERS
Middle initial A appears within a rectangular border.
stamped · silver or silverplate
William Rogers / licensed successor brands
Undated
WM ROGERS
Eagle on left and five-pointed star on right, with no middle initial A.
stamped · silver or silverplate · Hartford / later Connecticut successor production
About Rogers silver
Rogers is a surname shared by several American silver and silverplate businesses. William, Asa and Simeon Rogers worked together in Connecticut in 1847, building a reputation for electroplated tableware. Their later careers involved separate partnerships and companies. Rogers Brothers, Rogers & Brother, Rogers, Smith & Co. and William Rogers Manufacturing Company therefore represent related but distinct business histories.
Meriden Britannia employed the original brothers from 1862 and marketed its plated flatware under the 1847 Rogers Bros. name. The date became part of a continuing trademark rather than a manufacture date stamped on each object. Several Rogers businesses and brands subsequently came under International Silver. Their names continued on spoons, forks, knives and serving ware after the original partnerships had ended.
William A. Rogers began a separate silverware business in New York in 1894 and incorporated it in 1901. His company acquired Simeon L. & George H. Rogers in 1918 and was itself purchased by Oneida in 1929. The competing businesses’ use of the Rogers name led to repeated litigation. Full names, initials and surrounding symbols distinguish their products more usefully than the surname alone. Some Rogers firms also made sterling or coin silver, so the metal description must be read separately.
Also known as: Rogers silverware · Rogers silverplate · American makers and brands using Rogers on silver and silverplate
Look-alikes & how to tell them apart
Joseph Rodgers & Sons, Sheffield →
The English maker’s surname includes a d: Rodgers. Look for the complete Sheffield company name and associated marks rather than reading it as American Rogers.
Rogers, Lunt & Bowlen
A separate Greenfield, Massachusetts sterling manufacturer, founded in 1901; its complete name and sterling marks distinguish it from the plated Rogers brands illustrated here.