Museum Object Number1958.0674 A, B |
Lamp
Metals
Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont
Rufus Dunham (Maker)
Rufus Dunham ran away from home to Portland, Maine, to be apprenticed to Steven Porter in Stevens Plains, Westbrook, Maine in 1831. Two years later, in 1833, he broke the contract and went to work for Roswell Gleason in Dorchester, Massachusettes--an arrangment that lasted for four years. He then went to Poughkeepsie, New York, where he purchased molds and tools. In 1837 he returned to Stevens Plains and opened a shop with his brother, John, as a helper. At one time he employed twenty to thirty men and sold his goods in New England and Canada. In 1861 his buildings burned down and he moved back to Portland, where he opened the firm Rufus Dunham and Sons. The business was liquidated in 1882. For more on Rufus Dunham's marks (and that of Rufus Dunham and Sons), see Montgomery, History of American Pewter (1973), p.221; Ebert, Collecting American Pewter (1973), p.130; Carl Jacobs, Guide to American Pewter (1957), p.87-88; and C. Jordan Thorn, Handbook of American Silver and Pewter Marks (1949), p.253. See also Laughlin, Pewter in America (1981), vol.2, p.100-101 and J.B. Kerfoot, American Pewter (1942), p.158.
05/30/1815
1882
Westbrook, Maine, New England, United States, North America
1837-1860
1. Mark; Underside, center; "R.DUNHAM." in a serrated rectangle, stamped
Britannia metal; Pewter; Sheet iron; Brass; Cotton
Cast
7.559 (H) , 4.252 (Diam)
19.2 (H) , 10.8 (Diam)
Height is of the lamp without the burner. With the burner in place the lamp is 8.1 inches high. Diameter is of the lamp base. The lamp burner is 1.675 inches high and 1.1 inches in diameter.
Text available soon.
[Book] Montgomery, Charles F. 1973 A History of American Pewter.
• Published: fig. 5-8, pp. 98
[Book] Ebert, Katherine. 1973 Collecting American Pewter.
• Published: p. 102