Generally Items marked "Sterling" tend to be of American origin, most other countries use a hallmarking system that identified a date, where it was made and a maker's marking. Sterling currently has a melt/scrap value of $15.45 per Troy ounce, weigh the item and multiple the ounces times $15.45 and that's the bottom dollar value for this piece.
Re: silver Pitcher
Generally Items marked "Sterling" tend to be of American origin, most other countries use a hallmarking system that identified a date, where it was made and a maker's marking. Sterling currently has a melt/scrap value of $15.45 per Troy ounce, weigh the item and multiple the ounces times $15.45 and that's the bottom dollar value for this piece.