Mid 19th century S. Kirk & Sons center bowl with heavy floral repousse work throughout the body of the vessel, shell form handles with flowers, and paw feet. Stamped, "S. Kirk & Sons, 11oz". Accompanied by the text of an email from John D. Ward, SVP, Head of Dept., Silver, Vertu, Sotheby's, New York, "For the Kirk centerpiece, the date is 1861-1868, the only time "Sons" was plural in the Kirk mark. The "11 oz" is the standard, 11 oz out of 12 pure silver, or .916 standard, just below sterling standard of .925. Sterling only becomes required in the US with legislation passed in 1868 and not fully implemented until 1871. I would have thought this was about $2000-3000 especially with the early date, but looking at comps the closest I found was below, with a shockingly low value! We have found that there are regional preference for Kirk, with it doing best auction from Baltimore down into Texas, and with not much taste for it in the Northeast or West Coast. Given that value, I would probably drop my estimate to $1500-2500 but I think for a piece of this scale you really would want to put more than $1000 on it". Total approx. weight is 30.86 troy oz. From a Queens, NY estate. Dimensions: bowl measures approx. 13" w x 6.75" d x 5.75" h.