Medal

Description

This silver medallion was awarded as a prize or premium to an entrant in the third annual Rhode Island Industrial Exhibition held in Providence. The obverse side depicts a roccoco scrolled shield with a large fouled anchor on a striped field under a banner labeled "HOPE" from the Rhode Island state seal, and closely layered agricultural and industrial motifs such as a beehive, cornucopia, shipping crate, and in the background a factory and merchant ship. The reverse side's inscription indicates that the recipients were the Hazard family, owners of the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company, whose textile mills who produced wool, linen, and cotton cloth for national markets. This award recognized specifically their wool shawls and printed cottons. The firm soon expanded its printed cotton line to include cloth intended for southern markets to be made into clothing for enslaved people.