The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:          Alphonso T. Clearwater, 1848-1933                                       

Title:               Papers

Dates:             1901-1933

Call No.:         Col. 65

Acc. No.:         69x83

Quantity:        14 boxes

Location:        13 A 1-3

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Alphonso Trumphour Clearwater (1848-1933) was a native of West Point, New York.  He was educated locally and in 1903 received an honorary degree from Rutgers University for distinction in public service.  He served as the district attorney of Ulster County, New York, and as a judge on the New York Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.  Clearwater was active in the Republican Party, but declined its nomination to run for Congress from New York in 1884 and 1886.  He was a trustee of several organizations and a member of many others, including the Holland Society and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  He died in Kingston, New York.

 

The Clearwater silver collection was the basis of a book by C. Louise Avery, American Silver of the XVII and XVIII Centuries: A Study Based on the Clearwater Collection (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1920).

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

This collection of papers relates to the judge's hobby of collecting early American silver objects.  The bulk of the papers are correspondence with dealers, other collectors, and museums.  Among the latter, most is with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Important individual correspondents include C. Louise Avery, Francis H. Bigelow, John Buck, Robert Ensko, W. Farr, and Frederick T. Widmer.  Two firms with whom he often corresponded are Crichton Brothers (of New York) and Potter & Stainforth (of Boston).

           

 

ORGANIZATION

           

The correspondence is arranged alphabetically.  Boxes 1-5 contain correspondence with individuals, firms, and some museums.  Boxes 6-9 contain correspondence with three museums (the Albany Institute of History and Art, the Metropolitan, and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts) where Clearwater's silver collection was on view.  Box 10 contains some miscellaneous documents.  Box 11 holds certain publications, most of which make mention of Clearwater's silver.  And boxes 12-14 hold a series of 4" x 6" cards which describe the pieces in his collection.

 

 

PROVENANCE

           

Purchased from Thurston Thatcher, Hyde Park, New York.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

            People:

                        Avery, Clara Louise, 1891-

                        Bigelow, Francis Hill, 1859-1933.

                        Buck, John.

                        Ensko, Robert.

                        Farr, W.

                        Widmer, Frederick T.

 

            Corportations:

                        Crichton Brothers.

                        Potter & Stainforth.

                        Tiffany and Company.

                        Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)

                        Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

                        Albany Institute of History and Art.

 

Topics:

            Silverwork - United States - Collectors and collecting.

            Silversmiths - United States.

            Church plate - United States - Collectors and collecting.

            Antiques - United States - Collectors and collecting.

            Letters.

            Lectures.

            Clippings.

            Photoprints.

            Judges.

            Collectors.

 

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 13 A 1-3

 

 

Box 1: Correspondence: Ainsworth--Butler

 

Ainsworth--Allen

American Express--Art Center

Bassett--Berger

Bigelow, F. H. (10 folders)

Blauvelt--Bowne

Brenauer--Buck

Bullock--Butler

 

 

Box 2: Correspondence: Cabot--Fairchild

 

Cabot--Carey

Carlson--Cart

Chapman--Christie's

Clearwater--Cowperthwaite's

Crawford, A. J., Co.

Crichton Brothers (2 folders)

Curtis [various]

Dauber--Dupuy's

Eberlein--Elson

Ensko, Robert (2 folders)

Fairbanks--Fairchild

 

 

Box 3: Correspondence: Farr--Lyon

 

Farr, W. (4 folders)

Finch--Frohney

Gebelein--Greves

Hallenbuck--Helwig

Hesslein--Hunt

Jackson--Jones

Kelley--Kunz

Ladenburg--LaPlace

Lelong--Lyon

 

 

Box 4: Correspondence: Manning--Rosenberg

 

Manning--Michelmore

Mint--Morse

Moulton--Mulholland

Nagy--Osterhoudt

Palmer--Penniman

P.M.A.--Proskey

Potter & Stainforth (4 folders)

Preston, Laura E.

Rane--Robinson

Roehm--Rosenberg

 

 

Box 5: Correspondence: Rosenthal--Young

 

Rosenthal--Rylands

Sandberg--Scudder

Silver--Smithsonian

Spanierman--Stokes

Thorn--"Little Treasure Shop"

"Little Treasure Shop"--Turk

Valentine--VanWyck

Washington--Whitlocks

Widmer, Frederick T. (2 folders)

Wilkinson--Young

 

 

Box 6: Correspondence: Albany Institute--Metropolitan Museum (Buck)

 

Albany Institute (Cogswell)

Albany Institute (Dunn)

Albany Institute (Knapp-Kohn)

Metropolitan Museum (Avery) (3 folders)

Metropolitan Museum (Bach)

Metropolitan Museum (Breck)

Metropolitan Museum (Buck) (3 folders)

 

 

Box 7: Correspondence: Metropolitan Museum (Buck)--Metropolitan Museum (Halsey)

 

Metropolitan Museum (Buck) (2 folders)

Metropolitan Museum (Chandler)

Metropolitan Museum (Coffin)

Metropolitan Museum (Cornelius) (6 folders)

Metropolitan Museum (Davidson)

Metropolitan Museum (deForest)

Metropolitan Museum (Halsey)

 

 

Box 8: Correspondence: Metropolitan Museum (Halsey)--Metropolitan Museum (Kent)

 

Metropolitan Musuem (Halsey) (2 folders)

Metropolitan Musuem (Hervilly--Howard)

Metropolitan Musuem (Howe) (4 folders)

Metropolitan Museum (Kent) (5 folders)

 

 

Box 9: Correspondence: Metropolitan Museum (Mason--Metropolitan Assembly)--Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 

Metropolitan Museum (Mason--Metropolitan Assembly)

Metropolitan Museum (Plimpton)

Metropolitan Museum (Robinson) (2 folders)

Metropolitan Museum (Valentiner)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

 

 

Box 10: Miscellaneous Documents

 

Photographs

Articles and clippings

Letters regarding Alfred C. Prime & Clearwater's Silver

2 silver catalogs (Pennsylvania Museum, 1921; M.T. O'Shaughnessy collection, 1920)

copies of Clearwater's pamphlet "American silver ; list of unidentified makers and marks in the collection", 1913

 

 

Box 11: Publications

 

The Art World: 1:2 (November 1916)

 

The Jewelers' Circular: 73:2 (9 August 1916)

                                    80:10 (7 April 1920) [2 copies]

                                    82:23 (6 July 1921) [4 copies; mentions ATC on p. 65]

                                    83:1 (3 August 1921) [5 copies; mentions ATC on p. 73]

                                    83:23 (4 January 1922) [2 copies]

 

The Keystone Weekly: 42:2 (7 March 1916) [mentions ATC on pp. 65-66]

 

The National Jeweler: 18:1 (January 1922) [review of Avery book on the ATC collection on p. 71]

 

 

Boxes 12-14: Cards

 

These three boxes contain groups of 4" x 6" cards on which are typed descriptions of pieces of silver.  The cards had earlier been tied into bundles.  This grouping has been preserved, though it is not certain whether it is significant.  Some of the cards note that the piece described has been loaned to a particular museum.