Pair of shoe buckles

Dateca. 1790

Artist/Maker William Tutin

MediumTin alloy, ferrous metal

DimensionsOverall: 1 3/16 × 3 5/16 × 2 11/16 in (3 × 8.4 × 6.8cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1995-154,2

DescriptionPewter shoe buckle with iron/steel chaps; one of a pair.Label TextIf there is one product that is associated with Birmingham, it is a seemingly infinite variety of shoe buckles. William Tutin was one of Birmingham's specialist makers of base metal buckles and spoons. He was also the inventor of Tutania, apparently an antimony-rich alloy with similar properties to Britannia metal. His name appears in the Birmingham directories between 1767 and 1823. Records indicate that he was purchasing pewter from Ingram & Hunt in 1785.

Donald Fennimore has published a pewter sugar bowl from the first years of the nineteenth century that is stamped with an American eagle with spread wings, striped shield, and banner framed within an oval of stars, indicating that Tutin may have not only produced pewter sugar bowls for the American market, but also perhaps stamped furniture brasses with this same patriotic decoration.
Inscription(s)NoneMark(s)Touch mark "W T" within a rectangle on undersides of both frames. "W TUTIN" stamped on both sets of chapes.ProvenanceVendor: Thomas Campbell, Hawleysville, Connecticut.