The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:          E. Alfred Jones (Edward Alfred), 1872-1943                                      

Title:               Papers

Dates:             ca.1909-ca.1952

Call No.:         Col. 617          

Acc. No.:         94x141

Quantity:        12 boxes

Location:        35 L 1-3

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

E. Alfred Jones was a prolific writer on antique silver.  Born in 1872 in Llanfyllin, Wales, Jones served for a time as a subaltern in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.  He then yielded to his love of antiques, studied art, and began writing about antiques, particularly silver.  In addition to the many articles he wrote, Jones also compiled a number of illustrated catalogs of silver collections, including those in the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, the Cambridge colleges, and American churches, as well as catalogs of private collections, such as that of the Duke of Devonshire, Baroness James de Rothschild, and the Emperor of Russia.  Jones also wrote about furniture, tapestry, enamels, other art objects, and about Loyalists from the American Revolution.

 

Jones was given the Honorary Freedom and admitted to the Livery of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, was a Fellow of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, Honorary Bard of the National Eisteddof of Wales, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and member of the National Art Collections Fund and of the Contemporary Art Society.  As well, he received honorary M.A. degrees from the University of Wales and Oxford University.  He was a Fellow Commoner of Clare College, Cambridge, and held an M.A. from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

 

Jones died on August 23, 1943, from injuries received from a fall during a blackout.  He never married and had no children.  Obituaries were printed in The Connoisseur, Apollo, and The Magazine Antiques.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The bulk of the collection consists of photographs of silver objects: English, American, Chinese, and continental European.  Unfortunately, not all the items are identified; some of the photographs were used in Jones’ books and articles.  As well, there are research notes, drafts of articles, correspondence, copies of articles by others, and advertisements for silver dealers removed from magazines.

 

The collection includes some articles and advertisements from the 1950s.  It is not known who collected them and added them to Jones’ papers.

           

 

ORGANIZATION

           

The materials are arranged by size, with the oversize photos in Boxes 9-12.  Because many of the photos were not identified, it proved impossible to separate them entirely by place of manufacture of the silver, but an effort was made to separate American from English from Continental.

 

 

PROVENANCE

           

Purchased from Wynyard R. T. Wilkinson, London, England.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

            People:

                        Garvan, Mabel Brady – Art collections.

                        Gebelein, George Christian, 1878-1945.

 

Topics:

            University of Cambridge.

            University of Oxford.

            Tower of London (London, England).

            Silverwork.

            Jewelry.

            Heraldry.

            American Loyalists.

            Black-and-white photographs.

            Correspondence.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 35 L 1-3

 

Box 1:

 

American Loyalists, and American connections with Britain (5 folders)

Bookbindings, ornamental

Cambridge University: Christ’s College

Cambridge University: Clare College

Cambridge University: Corpus Christi College

Cambridge University: Emmanuel College

Cambridge University: Gonville and Caius College

Cambridge University: Jesus College

Cambridge University: King’s College

Cambridge University: Magdalene College

Cambridge University: Pembroke College

Cambridge University: Peterhouse College

Cambridge University: Queens’ College

Cambridge University: Sidney Sussex College (2 folders)

Cambridge University: St. Catherines College

Cambridge University: St. John’s College

Cambridge University: Trinity College (3 folders)

Cambridge University: Trinity Hall College

 

 

Box 2:

 

Chinese photos, from the Royal Academy International Exhibition of Chinese Art

Correspondence, with photos of American and European silver (2 folders)

Courtauld photos

Crichton Bros.

European metalwork

Heraldry and Continental silver

Heraldry: sketches of heraldic designs

Jewels and art objects, Baroness James de R[othschild]

Jones, E. Alfred: passport and visas

Manuscript of untitled article about silver

Manuscript and research notes re: English silver, Russian clocks, etc.

Mexican silver

 

 

Box 3:

 

Oxford University: All Souls College (2 folders)

Oxford University: Christ Church College

Oxford University: Corpus Christi College (2 folders)

Oxford University: Trinity College

Portraits, American and English

Portraits showing jewelry

Riding whips

Research notes and an article “Old English Silver of Colonial Times”

Riga

Russian architecture photographs

St. Ann’s Church, Manchester, England

Silver: advertisements of silver dealers clipped from Country Life, 1950s

Silver: American (2 folders) [note: some of the photos may be of European silver rather than American]

 

 

Box 4:

 

Silver: American (3 folders)[note: some of the photos may be of European silver rather than American]

Silver: American domestic silver (3 folders)

Silver: American, especially caster and cups, P. Syng coffee pot [some pieces may be European]

Silver: American, especially New York, double-handled cups, cream jugs

Silver: American, including “Wilkes and Liberty” bowl

 

 

Box 5:

 

Silver: American, silver mounted ivory tankard

Silver: American, some ecclesiastical

Silver: American, spout cups, etc.

Silver: church silver

Silver: church and domestic silver: European and Mexican

Silver: church and English domestic silver

Silver: correspondence and photos

Silver: Cream jugs

Silver: Edsel Ford Collection of American Silver

 

 

Box 6:

 

Silver: English

Silver: English and Continental (9 folders)

Silver: English and Irish

 

 

Box 7:

 

Silver: English, Panter (?) Collection

Silver: European silver (2 folders)

Silver: European silver, most photos labeled “J. P. Morgan”

Silver: European silver, including portraits and paintings with silver and jewelry

Silver: European silver, mostly Continental

Silver: Pitchers and jugs, largely by New York makers

Silver: Tower of London

Silver and other metalwork, European (2 folders)

Silver and other metalwork, European, including clocks

Silver and silver mounted objects, European

 

 

Box 8:

 

Silver and silver mounted objects, European (2 folders)

Silver and silver mounted objects, European and American

Silver depicted in illuminated manuscripts and other illustrations

Silver with other media, European (7 folders)

Silver with other media, mostly European

Silver with other media, especially German

 

 

Box 9: oversize

 

Silver from the Garvan Collection, Yale University Art Gallery (3 folders)

Silver: miscellaneous photographs (3 folders)

 

 

Box 10: oversize

 

Silver: English

Silver: English, mostly

Silver: English and Continental (2 folders)

Silver and silver mounted objects, also some portraits, English and Continental (4 folders)

Booklets: Convocation, All Soul’s College, Oxford, 1926; and Programme, 51st Annual Meeting of Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaelogical Society, 1926

Articles from various magazines, chiefly on silver, 1937-1952, and a proof copy of Jones’ Catalogue of the Plate of Oriel College, Oxford

 

 

Box 11: oversized photos and sketches

 

Jewelry sketches (2 folders)

Silver: American silver from the Garvan Collection, Yale University

Silver: English and Continental (2 folders)

Silver: ewer and basins, Continental?

Silver: English, ewer, stemmed cups

Silver: English epergene and Continental bear figure

 

 

Box 12: oversized photos

 

Silver: European (6 folders)