Object Number 1958.0647

Object Name

Basin (Bowl)

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Jacob Whitmore (Maker)
05/06/1736-09/25/1825
Whitmore's parents were Captain Jacob & Rebecca (Hurlbot) Whitmore. He married Elizabeth King on June 15, 1758. He acted as an officer in the American Revolution, commanding a company in Colonel Beebe's regiment in 1775 and as a captain under Colonel Comfort Sage in 1779. He was elected deacon of the First Congregational Church in 1782. In 1788 he served as sealer of weights and measures in the town government, succeeding Joseph Danforth. He owned molds jointly with Thomas Danforth II. In 1804 Jacob and Elizabeth bought property in Middletown from William Danforth. This appears to have gotten him into financial difficulty. His name continued to appear on tax lists until 1807. An advertisement appearing in The Connecticut Courant on June 19, 1781 reads, "To be Sold (for hard money only). At the shop of the subscriber in Middletown. A good assortment of New Pewter among which are one article of Tea-Potts of the best sort" (Laughlin, p.113). Whitmore was probably apprenticed in New York or Boston, not in his native Middletown, and that he returned in late 1757or early 1758. He may have worked closely with Thomas Danforth II and it seems that they both trained Samuel Hamlin. Whitmore probably retired in the 1790's (John Carl Thomas, Connecticut Pewter and Pewterers, 1976, p.147-149. For more on Jacob Whitmore's marks, see C. Jordan Thorn, Handbook of American Silver and Pewter Marks (1949), section 2, p.284; Ebert, Collecting American Pewter (1973), p.143; and Carl Jacobs, Guide to American Pewter (1957), p.175.

Place of Origin

Middletown, Connecticut, New England, United States, North America

Date

1758-1790

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Inside bottom, center; "JACOB" above and "W[ ]" below in banderoles around a crowned rose, stamped

Materials

Pewter

Techniques

Cast

Dimensions (inches)

2 (H) , 7.93 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

5.08 (H) , 20.142 (Diam)

Object Description

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