Whitall, Tatum and Company Paperweight
Whitall, Tatum and Company Paperweight
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- Description (Brief)
- In the 1700s, paperweights made from textured stone or bronze were part of the writer’s tool kit, which also included a quill pen and stand, inkpot, and blotter. By the mid-1800s, decorative paperweights produced by glassmakers in Europe and the United States became highly desired collectibles.
- Decorative glass paperweights reflected the 19th-century taste for intricate, over-the-top designs. Until the spread of textiles colorized with synthetic dyes, ceramics and glass were among the few objects that added brilliant color to a 19th-century Victorian interior. The popularity of these paperweights in the 1800s testifies to the sustained cultural interest in hand craftsmanship during an age of rapid industrialization.
- Whitall, Tatum & Company of Millville, New Jersey was formed in 1901 and employed first rate craftsmen who created outstanding paperweights.
- Michael Kane at Whitall, Tatum and Company likely made this frit work (fusing powdered glass to create an image) paperweight, bearing an image of an American eagle and a flag shield. The barely legible initials “F.O.E” may indicate that this was made as a souvenir for the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a men’s organization founded in 1898.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- paperweight
- date made
- ca 1900
- maker
- Whitall Tatum Company
- place made
- United States: New Jersey, Millville
- Physical Description
- glass, transparent (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 2 3/8 in x 3 1/2 in; 6.0325 cm x 8.89 cm
- ID Number
- CE.60.140
- catalog number
- 60.140
- accession number
- 211475
- Credit Line
- Aaron and Lillie Straus
- See more items in
- Cultural and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
- Domestic Furnishings
- Art
- Paperweights
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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