Dish and Cover
1869 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This dish and cover would have been used to serve food. It is just one example of the huge output of the Meriden Britannia Co. Founded by the Wilcox brothers in 1852 in Connecticut, it became one of the largest silver manufacturers in the United States by the time this piece was made in 1869.
Britannia metal is a mixture of tin, antimony and copper. It looks like pewter and was pioneered in the Britannia Metal Works in Sheffield. From about 1850 onwards manufacturers used it (as here) as a base metal for electroplating, covering it with a thin coating of silver by electro-deposition. Electroplated wares were produced in the styles fashionable for silverware, such as the Neo-classical revival style you can see here.
Britannia metal is a mixture of tin, antimony and copper. It looks like pewter and was pioneered in the Britannia Metal Works in Sheffield. From about 1850 onwards manufacturers used it (as here) as a base metal for electroplating, covering it with a thin coating of silver by electro-deposition. Electroplated wares were produced in the styles fashionable for silverware, such as the Neo-classical revival style you can see here.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Electroplated Britannia metal |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Stamped on the underside with the company trademark and PATd FEB 9 1869 / 66 |
| Credit line | Given by Miss L.M. Glenn |
| Object history | Covered entree dish. The Meriden Britannia Company was founded by the Wilcox brothers in 1852. It came to be one of the largest silver manufactures in the United States in the latter part of the 19th century; by its capital stock was valued at $1·1 million. The taste for the neo-classical revival replaced the rococo revival in America in the 1860s. The more expensive items in the Meriden trade catalogues for this period are almost all copied or adapted from designs by George Wilkinson for either the Gorham Manufacturing Company RI or Ball, Black & Co. of New York. |
| Summary | This dish and cover would have been used to serve food. It is just one example of the huge output of the Meriden Britannia Co. Founded by the Wilcox brothers in 1852 in Connecticut, it became one of the largest silver manufacturers in the United States by the time this piece was made in 1869. Britannia metal is a mixture of tin, antimony and copper. It looks like pewter and was pioneered in the Britannia Metal Works in Sheffield. From about 1850 onwards manufacturers used it (as here) as a base metal for electroplating, covering it with a thin coating of silver by electro-deposition. Electroplated wares were produced in the styles fashionable for silverware, such as the Neo-classical revival style you can see here. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.25&A-1970 |
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| Record created | March 3, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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