Museum Object Number1977.0028 |
Spoon (Teaspoon)
Metals
Ineson-Bissell Collection
Museum purchase
Meriden Britannia Company (Maker)
Isaac C. Lewis (Maker)
Lemuel Curtis (Maker)
The Meriden Britannia Company formed from independent britannia manufacturers in the Meriden area, including William W. Lyman, John Munson, Isaac C. Lewis, Lemuel Curtis(s) and James A. Frary. For more on Meriden Britannia Company's marks, see C. Jordan Thorn, Handbook of American Silver and Pewter Marks (1949), p.268. See also Laughlin, Pewter in America (1981), vol.2, p.107 and Carl Jacobs, Guide to American Pewter (1957), p.139. Pages of the company's 1861 catalogue are reproduced in John Carl Thomas, Connecticut Pewter and Pewterers (1976), p.40-45.Isaac Lewis apprenticed with Hiram Yale at Wallingford, Connecticut. In 1834 he opened a shop with George Cowles in East Meriden. The company name changed to Lewis and Curtis in 1836 when Lemuel J. Curtis replaced Cowles. In 1839 the company was reorganized again when Lewis took on Daniel B. Wells, a former apprentice, and it was called I.C. Lewis & Company. This company was eventually absorbed into Meriden Britanna Company in 1852, of which Lewis was the president. For more on Isaac Lewis's marks, see Laughlin, Pewter in America (1981), vol.2, p.106; Kauffman, The American Pewterer (1970), p.146; and C. Jordan Thorn, Handbook of American Silver and Pewter Marks (1949), p.265. See also Carl Jacobs, Guide to American Pewter (1957), p.128 and Ebert, Collecting American Pewter (1973), p.136.Lemuel's last name is sometimes found spelled "Curtiss" in marks. Lemuel J. Curtis was a partner with Issac C. Lewis in the business Lewis & Curtis from 1836 to 1838. From 1838 to 1840 Lemuel worked with his brother Edwin, and then ran his own shop until 1845. In 1846 Lemuel began working with William W. Lyman, and in 1852 he became a director of the Meriden Britannia Company. It is possible that Lemuel trained or worked in Asbil Griswold's shop. For more on Lemuel Curtis's marks, see C. Jordan Thorn, Handbook of American Silver and Pewter Marks (1949), p.246. See also Laughlin, Pewter in America (1981), vol.2, p.100 and vol.3, p.180; John Carl Thomas, Connecticut Pewter and Pewterers (1976), p.166; Ebert, Collecting American Pewter (1973), p.128; and Carl Jacobs, Guide to American Pewter (1957), p.59.
185210/19/181201/15/1814
1861
Meriden, New Haven, Connecticut, New England, United States, North America
1852-1870
1. ; ; MERIDEN BRITANNIA CO.
Silver
5.81 (L)
14.76 (L)
Text available soon.
[Book] Belden, Louise C. 1980 Marks of American Silversmiths in the Ineson-Bissell Collection. 506 p.
• An illustrated glossary of spoon terms, pp. 467-488