Metalwork in Early America

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.