Object Number 1960.1100

Object Name

Plate

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Edward Danforth (Maker)
03/20/1765-1830
Edward Danforth was the grandson of Thomas I, son of Thomas II; brother of Thomas III, Joesph Sr and Samuel (of Middletown); uncle to Joseph Jr and Josiah; nephew of John; cousin of Samuel (of Norwich). Nineteen members of the Danforth family, spread over five generations, became invovled with manufacturing pewter or britannia. Edward probably apprenticed with his father, Thomas II, and then brothers, Joseph Sr and/or Thomas III, around 1780 to 1786. By 1786 Edward left Middletown to open a shop in Hartford. I appears that Edward made little or no pewter after 1799-1800. Edward trained Thomas D. Boardman at the start of the latter's apprenticeship, who later hired Edward's tools when he started his own business in 1804. There is some confusion in older scholarship about the attribution of a series of hallmarks: some attribute them to Edward, others to Thomas D. Boardman (see Thomas, Connecticut Pewter, p.93). For more on Edward Danforth's marks, see John Carl Thomas, Connecticut Pewter and Pewterers (1976), p.92-93; Carl Jacobs, Guide to American Pewter (1957), p.61; Ebert, Collecting American Pewter (1973), p.128; Kauffman, The American Pewterer (1970), p.137; C. Jordan Thorn, Handbook of American Silver and Pewter Marks (1949), p.248; and Montgomery, History of American Pewter (1973), p.219. See also Thomas, Connecticut Pewter, p.50-145; Laughlin, Pewter in America (1981), vol.1, p.117 and vol.3, p.73-74.

Place of Origin

Connecticut, United States, North America

Origin Notes

Middletown or Hartford, Connecticut.

Date

1788-1794

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Underside, center; "E[ ]" above and "DANFORTH" below a rampant lion, all within oval border, stamped
2. Mark; Underside, center; "E[ ]D" above and "DANFORTH" below a rampant lion, all within an oval, stamped
3. Mark; Underside, center; "E·D" within a shield, stamped
4. Mark; Underside, center; A bird within a shield, stamped
5. Mark; Underside, center; Indistinguishable
6. Mark; Underside, center; Indistinguishable

Materials

Pewter

Techniques

Cast

Dimensions (inches)

0.56 (H) , 7.875 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

1.422 (H) , 20.003 (Diam)

Object Description

Text available soon.