Browse Items (908 total)

Henry Bresky & Sons of Bridgeport, Connecticut,
created their blue diamond label reminiscent of the
early days (1890–1920). Then, the exchange merchant
on the trade docks marked Henry Bresky’s incoming
goods with a blue lumber crayon and a…

Like their predecessors, 20th century crafters also
wanted to design a unique label to identify their
handmade works. Olive B. Russell had this personal
label created to mark her hand-hooked rugs,
including this seat cover.

This bright pink under-dress in the loose-fitting
Flapper style of the 1920s bears the unique label of
French designer Jeanne Lanvin. The label not only
dates the dress line, but most importantly, it also
illustrates Lanvin’s inspiration—her…

George William Welsh was a silversmith active in
New York City in the mid 19th century. Kate L.
Sherman Turney and Oliver Turney married in 1866,
so perhaps this set of silver was a wedding gift.

This musket, a copy of the British “Brown Bess,” was
said to have been carried in the Revolutionary War
by Joseph Banks of Fairfield. The barrel is iron and
marked “LONDON” but the touch marks indicate
that the gun was made in Belgium. The first…

This spoon, made in London of copper and zinc alloy,
uses a triple spoon motif as a touch mark or maker’s
mark. But since the register of makers’ marks was
destroyed, we have no way of associating this mark
with its maker. Spoons knopped…

Prior to the mid-19th century, most clay (kaolin) pipes
were produced in family-run workshops. Makers’
marks on these pipes, typically just a set of initials, often
help establish a date and place for their manufacture.
Some marks were part of…

Samuel Danforth operated his shop in Hartford
from 1795-1816, producing a wide variety of wares,
including dishes, tankards, flagons, baptismal bowls,
and porringers. Danforth’s touch marks feature four
eagles flanked by the initials SD; the D is…

New York silversmith Benjamin Wynkoop produced
this cann which belonged to Jonathan and Jerusha
Sturges of Fairfield. It bears Wynkoop’s mark, the
letters “W K B” within a heart shape, as well as the
initials of the owners on the handle.…

Sometimes an artist’s creation is reinterpreted or
reused in a very different way. This skimmer is a
sieve-like spoon that is used for skimming cooking
liquids or lifting ripened cream from milk. Compare
this to the face of the Bulkley clock next…