Metalwork in Early America: Copper and its Alloys from the Winterthur Collection
Winterthur, Delaware: The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Inc., 1996. Hardcover. Cinnamon cloth/oblong boards. Illustrated copper dj with black spine. 472 pp. with 322 items pictured in bw and 17 color plates. VG/VG as new never read. Item #163466
ISBN: 9780912724379
The first ever catalogue of a major collection of copper and its alloys. Organized by function into 6 sections: food and drink, heat, light, measurement, personal, and hardware. Includes American, English, Dutch, Swedish, German, Austrian, Swiss, French, and Far Eastern items. Each item fully annotated and with measurements and alloy percentages. An intriguing and informative catalogue. Copper and its alloys -- brass, bronze, and paktong -- were an integral part of Americans' lives from the time of earliest settlement. Throughout the first two hundred years of colonial and early federal America, these metals were fashioned into literally hundreds of different types of objects. This volume explores the importance of these metals for early Americans, using the extensive collections at Winterthur. The first three chapters cover mining and manufacturing techniques, the extensive marketing network through which raw materials and finished goods moved from manufacturer to consumer, and the factors that governed the marking of metals by their makers. These essays, followed by color plates, provide a background and introduce the entries, which picture and discuss more than three hundred individual objects. Each entry presents specific information that can include metallurgical content as well as the object's function, fabrication, history, maker -- if known -- and the social context surrounding its use. Contents as follows: Mining and manufacturing -- Marketing -- Marking and metallurgy -- Color plates -- Food and drink -- Heat -- Light -- Measurement -- Personal -- Hardware.
OCLC: 34115281
Price: $20.00