Object Number 1953.0032

Object Name

Plate

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Frederick Bassett (Maker)
1740-1800
Frederick Bassett is the younger brother of Francis II, son of John, nephew of Francis I. Frederick became a freeman in 1769. He moved from New York to Hartford during the years when the city was occupied by the British (1780-1785), and then returned to New York. His father, John, left his pewter-making tools and shop to Frederick. From Montgomery: "Several surviving bills of the 1770's from Frederick Bassett to Hinman and Osborn of Woodbury, Connecticut, record his substantial wholesale trade with these merchants with charges for pint mugs at 2s. 2d. (28 cents), quart mugs at 3s. 6d. (47 cents), and tankards at 5s. (66 cents) each in an era when skilled craftsmen were paid 7s. 6d. (a dollar) a day" (p.105). Bassett's work is typical of early eighteenth-century pewter. For more on Frederick Bassett's marks, see Kauffman, The American Pewterer (1970), p.133; Montgomery, History of American Pewter (1973), p.216; Ebert, Collecting American Pewter (1973), p.123; Laughlin, Pewter in America (1981), vol.2, plate LIX; Carl Jacobs, Guide to American Pewter (1957), p.33-34; and C. Jordan Thorn, Handbook of American Silver and Pewter Marks (1949), p.239. See also John Carl Thomas, Connecticut Pewter and Pewterers (1976), p.28; Laughlin, Pewter in America, vol.2, p.5-8 and vol.3, p.98-101; and J.B. Kerfoot, American Pewter (1942), p.76-78.

Place of Origin

New York, New York, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Date

1761-1800

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Underside, center; "F·B" with fleur-de-lis, all within a circle, stamped

Materials

Pewter

Techniques

Cast

Dimensions (inches)

0.625 (H) , 6.375 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

1.587 (H) , 16.192 (W)

Measurement Notes

The height measurement is an average as the edge undulates so much.

Object Description

Text available soon.