When I first acquired this Sherman bracelet, I was thrilled with how lovely and unique it was. Then I turned it over and looked at the signature. My face flushed. My blood pressure shot up. Oh no! Had I been duped? Had someone sold me a Sherman with a counterfeit signature?My concern was prompted by a couple of very noticeable things about the signature. For one, it was cut off! That's right. The signature was missing the "an" at the end of the name. Secondly, the slant on the signature seemed wrong: it was too upright. Most of the Sherman script signatures I've seen are slanted strongly to the right. Thirdly, the capital "S" in the signature didn't extend as far over the remaining letters as it usually does. Take a look at the photo below to see what I mean. It shows 3 pieces of my Shermans with their signatures. The difference is noticeable:
The signature closest to the top is from the bracelet I'm describing. The other two are from other Shermans. The differences are obvious.Of course, I panicked. But then I slowed down and started to compare other elements of this Sherman bracelet: the silver rhodium-plate backing, the clarity and quality of the crystals, and the clasp itself. I'd seen that identical clasp on many older Shermans. So I got busy looking up Sherman signatures on the net. Lo and behold, I did come across the same kind of signature listed as a sample of Sherman's signature. It was more upright, the "S" didn't go as far over the letters and it even looked kind of shaky. I could only draw one conclusion: my bracelet is one of the very early Shermans stamped before the signature was perfected or the actual script of the signature perfected. The fact that the last 2 letters were missing might be indicative of wearing from age, or just improper placement on the clasp. If all that were true, I was holding an even more collectible Sherman bracelet from a historical point of view, not to mention that it is downright pretty!
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else who may have come across this type of signature on other Sherman pieces. And if you are interested in adding this beautiful figure 8 design Sherman to your collection, you can buy it now from my SHOP AT RUBY LANE for only $150.
