Silver-gilt and niello tulip-shaped covered cup with a cast S scroll grotesque handle and stepped circular pedestal base; low-domed, wide-rimmed cover has a cast flower knop or finial. A military figure on horseback, facing left with name or title in cyrillic below, is depicted in a circular reserve on front of body; rest of body and cover are filled with scrolls, foliage and flowers on a snakeskin ground. Gilt washed interior. Body and cover are by the same maker, but have different assay marks. Inside of cover is struck with four marks: "AK" in raised Cyrillic script in a rectangle, "A•K / 1848(?)" in a rectangle, "84" in a clipped-corner rectangle, and St. George slaying the dragon in a clipped-corner rectangle. Cup has three marks on front below rim, "AK", "84" and St. George, and three marks on underside of base, "84", "Н•д / 1839(?)" in raised Cyrillic in a rectangle, and "AK".
Piece made in Moscow, but maker not identified. Cover assayed by Andrey Antonovich Kovalsky (assayer, 1821-1856), and cup by Nicolai Dubrovin (assayer, 1822-1855).
Patent model (U.S. Patent No. 3,656) of a railway cooking stove made by John B. Chollar and Homer Parmelee of West Troy, NY (now Watervliet) and patented on July 11, 1844; painted black with inventors' names, location and date in gold on oven front and back. Consists of an elevated stationary oven on arched legs that connect to a triangular frame with three rollers that carry a movable stove. Removable grate and center section of stove top. Loose, small diamond- or lozenge-shape cover of unknown purpose. Oven and legs are broken apart. Pieces of two darkened paper tags tied to oven with red or purple wove ribbon are printed and handwritten with patent information and object numbers.
Chollar and Parmelee's patent is not for the entire stove but just the "new and useful improvements in cooking-stoves applicable to the stove known as Isaac B. Bucklins patent railway cooking-stove and other stoves of similar construction." (Isaac B. Bucklin, also of West Troy, received U.S. Patent No. 825 for his railway cooking stove on July 9, 1838; reissued August 27, 1840.)
Double-bellied or inverted pear-shaped teapot with overall, elaborate repousse work, including a fanciful landscape of oriental-style buildings and shaggy trees on its upper body, and large-petaled flowers and serrated leaves across the remaining space as well as on the flared, hinged lid topped by a cast reclining stag, S-curve spout with leaf on upper lip, S-curve handle pinned into ivory insulators and voluted sockets, and domed circular foot. An armorial device consisting of a griffin's head erased rising from a heraldic wreath is engraved between structures on one side of body, and "Georgiana Armistead to Margaret Armistead Appleton from Mother to Mildred Armistead Baker Ruttencutter / 1848-1923" is inscribed around cover edge. Chased vermicelli or squiggle pattern on collar. Body perforated at spout. Rounded underside of body is struck "14.OZ" and "S. KIRK & SON", both in raised serif letters in rectangles. No centerpunch.
Onion-form teakettle with crooked gooseneck spout and cast-in, splayed arched ears for the faceted strap bail handle; three D-section feet. Low-domed, molded cover with cast-in wire loop handle. Both pieces are hollow cast: cover has gate mark on top; kettle has horizontal and vertical seams on body and spout with single gate mark on bottom exterior. Cast-in marks below back ear "W:S 3." in a dotted oval and "N.&W.S.EDDY" in a zig-zag bordered oval, both in raised serif letters.
Maker is Nathaniel and William S. Eddy, who operated the Eddy Furnace, located in what is now Middleboro, MA, circa 1830-1840. Their father, Joshua, founded the furnace sometime around the Revolution, which might explain why stylistically this teapot appears earlier in date, circa 1780-1820.
Cylindrical teapot with cast melon knop screwed to the hinged lid and a spurred, ear-shaped handle pinned into cylindrical sockets opposite a plain, bellied gooseneck or S curve spout. Body is made of three, vertically seamed pieces and engraved on one side with an indecipherable monogram and crest. Applied gadrooning around lid, outside edge of top, and at bottom as part of foot ring. Body perforated at spout. One finial leaf is struck with "RP / GB" in raised serif letters in a rounded square, a sovereign's head facing left in oval, and lion passant in shield; no date letter evident. Underside of flat bottom is struck with four hallmarks arranged in a triangle, "* / AL" in triangular surround at center, lion passant facing left in pointed-bottom shield above, crowned leopard's head in rounded shield at left, and a gothic or Old English "R" in clipped-corner, pointed-bottom shield to right. No centerpunch.
Silver-gilt and niello tapered cylindrical covered cup with flared rim, applied reeded foot ring, and a cast S scroll handle; low-domed, stepped cover has a cast, leafy scrolled, triangular knop or finial with a putti sitting at center with arms raised. Two men in classical military dress, one standing and one seated with names or title in cyrillic on pedestal below, are depicted in a circular reserve on front of body; rest of body and cover are filled with scrolls, foliage and flowers on a snakeskin ground. Gilt washed interior. Body and cover are by the same maker, but marks differ. Inside of cover is struck with three marks: St. George slaying the dragon in a conforming surround, the raised Cyrillic cursive letters "ГГ" in an oval, and "84" in a rectangle. Cup has "84" mark on front below rim and three marks on underside of flat bottom, "A•K / 1843" in raised Cyrillic in a rectangle, "84" in a clipped-corner rectangle, St. George slaying the dragon in a clipped-corner rectangle, and the raised Cyrillic cursive letters "ГГ" in an oval.
Piece made in Moscow, but maker not identified. Assayed by Andrey Antonovich Kovalsky (assayer, 1821-1856).
Inverted pear-shaped, serpentine-paneled teapot engraved "AMC" in conjoined foliate script on a stepped pedestal base with circular foot. Stepped and domed, hinged lid is topped by a cast urn filled with flowers and a plumed scroll, and fits inside the everted, reverse cyma-edged rim above incurved neck. Applied beading at base of neck, top of pedestal, and foot. Spurred, faceted, S-curve handle is pinned into ivory insulators and scrolled sockets. Seamed, S-curve spout has a faceted lower half, raised ring at middle, and split lip with applied drop on top. Body perforated at spout. Underside of rounded bottom struck with maker's mark between two pseudo-hallmarks. Centerpunch visible. Part of a three-piece service, 1988.0252.1-.3.
Maker is Gale, Wood & Hughes (William Gale Sr., Jacob Wood, and Jasper Hughes) of New York, NY; in partnership, 1833-1845.
Rectangular, two-slat-top wooden frame with thumb-molded top rails and plain bottom rails joined by through tenons doweled together by opposed double-baluster corner posts that encloses a perforated tin box with wire-rimmed, hinged door containing a tapered circular pan for heat source; wire bail handle hooks through loops on frame top and wire split-pin loop pull is on box door. Box top has three bands of punched diamonds, while sides feature one large hole inside a dimpled heart in a punched circle; box top and bottom are folded over two-piece sides with soft-soldered lapped seam. Three-piece pan has folded seams and wire rim. No marks.
Bellied-bowl porringer with angled rim and bossed bottom; cast flower-type handle with tongued or linguiform bracket is pierced with 13 voids and struck sideways once on top with partial circular touchmark of Samuel Hamlin Jr., containing a spreadwing eagle, head facing left, with anchor in shield against wing at right, "HA[MLI]N" and "PROV[IDENCE]" in raised serif letters in banners above and below. Small sink hole under rim from tinker's dam used to burn handle on to bowl. Very faint turning marks on underside of boss.
This is an envelope addressed to Samuel Copp sent from Treasury Department which contained a July 10 letter, postmarked July 12.
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Color print, half length portrait of a man (Rhode Island Governor Thomas Wilson Dorr) seated in a chair holding a document labeled "Constitution of Rhode Island". A column and green fringed drapery is behind him.
Black and white print, half length portrait of a man in military uniform (Charles Todd). A facsimilie of the sitter's signature is in the margin above the title and below the image.
Black and white print depicting a large meeting house with many carriages and wagons in the wooded yard beside it. Men and women stand amongst the vehicles. According to the catalog card "Attached letter from Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society identifies three men in the foreground, left to right, as Eljah Coffin, John Pease of England, and Jer Hubbard."
Color print of a two-story frame house and four out-buildings on a river or stream. The house, surrounded by a picket fence, has a small lookout platform on its roof where three figures are standing. A carriage is stopped in front of the house.
Black and white print, half length portrait of a man in military uniform (Charles Todd). A facsimilie of the sitter's signature is in the margin above the title and below the image.
Rectangular box with built-in coin slot at center of the flat lid; scrolled hasp lock on front and two hinges at back. Lid is made of one piece with wire-rolled rim. Box is made of five pieces with soft-soldered, folded edges; top edge of front and sides are folded down with a wire bead below. Traces of flaking black paint on exterior. Tinned interior. No marks. Box and padlock DL*245425.0078-.0079 were used together.
Collection boxes have been used for centuries to solicit money for religious institutions and charities. Even those with little to spare might contribute coins anonymously to a strategically placed box. Unfamiliar in some American communities in the 1700s, these boxes became more commonly used in the United States in the 1800s.