Out of the blue, I received the following email today:

inquiry / silversmith

From:  Sharron ******* [b********@******.com]

Hello Mr. Waugh

I found your website and I have a question for you.  I have recently purchased a gorgeous hand-hammered sterling silver plate, and I am trying to determine the maker.  It is marked on the back

"WAUGH  1971 COLO  ster "

Would this, by any chance, be something you made?

Thank you,

Sharron

It amazes me how something from that far back in my past is still around somewhere and somebody still likes it enough to want to buy it.  (Maybe she got a really good deal on it from the guy at the flea market.  ) 

I wrote her back asking if she would tell me where/how she came up with that piece, since I have damn little recollection of it.  I do recall that I made a handful of plates, bowls, cups and some few liturgical pieces that year, but I’m damned if I remember what happened to them all.

This goes to show the value of signing your work with something straightforward that can be deciphered later, I guess.

Rich