Gallon basin
Date1807-1812
Artist/Maker
Joseph Danforth II
MediumPewter
DimensionsOH: 3"; Diam: 11 15/16"; W (rim): 5/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Antique Collectors' Guild and Dr. and Mrs. J. Latane Ware, Mr. and Mrs. Langdon T. Christian, Dr. and Mrs. Hunter M. Gaunt, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Julian R . Irvin, Drs. Charles and Stephanie Brooks, Robert B. Eggleston, Mr. and Mrs. Louis G. Locke, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Wood, Sumpter T. Priddy III, Mrs. Cabell Mayo Tabb, Dr. and Mrs. Franklin P. Watkins, Dr. and Mrs. H. Boyan, Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Stvan, Mrs. William E. Crawford, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Munzel, Dr. and Mrs. Henry P. Deyerle, Mr. and Mrs. Van Rensselaer Needels, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Miller, James H. Willcox, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. Harold M. Goodman, and Dr. J. F. Wine in memory of William E. Crawford
Object number1989-308
DescriptionPewter basin with wide rim and "single reed" edge.Label TextJoseph Danforth II (1783-1844) was of the fourth generation of his Connecticut family to practice the trade of pewterer. He is but one of a substantial number of fellow pewterers from the Hartford area who were enterprising enough to seek personal opportunity and more promising markets elsewhere. His setting up business in Richmond, Virginia, in 1807, was not a random foray into the South, but part of a more generalized pattern. Other pewterers from this part of Connecticut that moved south included James Porter from Middletown, J.W. Olcott (probably Joel White Olcott) from Litchfield, Samuel Kilbourn from Hartford, and Sylvester Griswold from Meriden, all of whom worked in Baltimore. Thomas Danforth IV from Rocky Hill, John North and Isaiah Rowe from Farmington, and Giles Griswold, probably from Meriden, all opened businesses in Augusta, Georgia, while Jacob Eggleston, William Nott, Jehiel Johnson, and probably Thomas S. Derby, all from Middletown, worked in Fayetteville, North Carolina.Inscription(s)NoneMark(s)Touch mark an American eagle with spread wings and an olive branch and arrows in its talons and stars above standing on an oval enclosing J?D, all contained within a circle stamped twice on inside of bowl (Laughlin I, 381). Secondary mark a label containing RICHMOND/WARRENTED within a conforming reserve on inside of bowl (Laughlin I, 379).ProvenancePurchased with funds provided by the Antique Collectors Guild from John Carl Thomas, Hanover, Connecticut, who acquired it at auction on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Formerly in the collection of Dr. and Mrs. S. Harris Johnson III.
