The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Mallory, Robert.                     

Title:               Pewter papers

Dates:             ca. 1935-2001, bulk dates 1954-1976.

Call No.:         Col. 735

Acc. No.:        02x32

Quantity:        12 boxes (about 2 linear feet)

Location:        15 J 2-3

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Robert Mallory, III, a gynecologist and obstetrician from Rye, New York, was known for his collection and extensive knowledge of early American pewter.  He loaned parts of his collection for exhibits and gave many illustrated lectures, speaking to audiences at Colonial Williamsburg, the Henry Ford Museum, and the Greenwich Historical Society, among other places.  As well, he wrote articles for the Pewter Collectors Club of America (of which he was a member, serving as president for a time) and for the magazine Art in America. 

 

Dr. Mallory graduated from Yale and the Temple University College of Medicine.  He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.  His wife Phyllis (1929-2001) enthusiastically supported the collecting of pewter and early American furniture.  The Mallory collection was auctioned after their deaths.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The collection includes correspondence, especially with dealers; articles about pewter; a catalog (undated but from 2001) for the auction of the Mallory collection; information about loans the Mallorys made to various exhibits; a volume in which the Mallorys recorded their purchases; and photographs, negatives, and slides.  The slides are the bulk of the collection, and most of them are of pewter pieces such as canns, tankards, candlesticks, spoons, plates, porringers, and other forms.  Other slides show marks of pewter makers.  The negatives and photos are also mostly of pewter pieces.  Most of the pewter articles are from Antiques magazine from 1930s-1950s.  Catalogs from and correspondence with various dealers are also in the collection.

 

Several original documents are also part of the collection.  These include letters, receipts, and a bill from pewterers and metalworkers Frederick Bassett, Thomas Danforth, Benjamin Harbeson, and Josiah Keene.  Also included is part of a ledger book kept by George Hodges; he purchased items from pewterer Samuel Danforth in 1814.  An issue of the Columbian Centinel dated May 22, 1793, is filed with the oversize magazine articles.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The files kept by the Mallorys is followed by the original documents, photographs, oversize articles, negatives, and slides.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

           

Gift of Susan W. Hanover, niece of Mrs. Mallory.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

People:

            Bassett, Frederick, 1740-1800.

            Danforth, Samuel, 1774-1816.

            Danforth, Thomas, II.

            Harbeson, Benjamin, d.1809.

            Keene, Josiah, 1778 or 9-1868.

            Hodges, George W.

 

Topics:

            Pewter - Collectors and collecting.

            Pewter - Marks.

            Auction catalogs.

Collectors.

Antique dealers.         

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 15 J 2-3

 

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1:          Articles about pewter

[see also oversize folder]

 

Folder 2:          Clippings and other information about the Mallorys

 

Folder 3:          Correspondence, 1953-1982

 

Folder 4:          Dealers’ catalogs, correspondence, and bills of sale

 

Folder 5:          Dealers: Carl and Celia Jacobs

 

Folder 6:          Dealers: Thomas D. and Constance R. Williams

 

Folder 7:          Lists of pewter

 

Folder 8:          Loans to exhibits

 

Folder 9:          Mallory collection: auction catalog, June 16, [2001]

 

Folder 10:        Pennsbury Manor American Forum, 1965

 

Folder 11:        Pewter at Colonial Williamsburg, and Antiques Forum, 1958

 

 

Box 2:

 

Folder 1:          Pewter Collectors Club of America

 

Folder 2:          Pewter records

 

Folder 3:          Bassett, Frederick: letters and receipts:

                                    02x32.1: Bassett to Jona. Humphreys & Son, merch[ants], Simsbury, no date: encloses bill of pewter [.2 or .3 could be the receipt that accompanied this note];

                                    02x32.2: New York, Nov. 16, 1769, Bassett received old pewter from Jonathan Humphreys & Son, by the hands of Capt. Levy Riley;

                                    02x32.3: New York, Dec. 22, 1773, Bassett received old pewter from Jonathan Humphreys & Son, by the hands of Capt. Demming;

                                    02x32.4: Bassett, New York, Nov. 29, 1787, to Major Jona. Humphreys, Simsbury, Conn.: shipping the articles left in his care and 2 casks of pewter; please send pork and give regards to various people

 

Folder 4:          Danforth, Thomas: letter

                                    02x32.5: Danforth, Middletown, June 9, 1773, to Peter Vesterle[? Vestelle?], Boston: gave Samuel Hamlin orders to sell old brass; am sending him old coper and pewter and some cash

 

Folder 5:          Harbeson, Benjamin: bill

                                    02x32.6: bill from Harbeson to James Wharton, Sept. 6, 1766, for 1 copper cumpes [compass?] lamp

 

Folder 6:          Keene, Josiah: bill

                                    02x32.7: receipted bill: Keene was paid by Robert Kennedy, Aug. 10, 1818, for copper boiler; Kennedy paid the bill with cash and an old kettle

 

Folders 7-10:   Photographs of pewter

 

 

Box 3: ledger book (partial)

 

Acc. 02x32.8   part of a ledger book used by Geo. Hodges & Co. and Moore, Hodges & Co., 1813-1815, and then used for copies of letters by George W. Hodges of Charleston [no state] in 1818.  The Hodges companies, location unknown, seem to have operated a general store, as they were purchasing a variety of goods, chiefly from Boston merchants: shoes, pottery, sugar, reams of paper, textile fabrics, shawls, etc. 

Of interest to the Mallorys would have been the account of purchases made in Nov. 1814 from Samuel Danforth of Hartford, including platters, basons, plates, tea pots, butters, mugs, and porringers.

The letters from G. W. Hodges of Charleston [no state] were written to other merchants.  A large hole is in the middle of most of these pages.

 

 

Box 4: oversize articles

 

Mostly articles about pewter, from a variety of magazines

 

Also includes acc. 02x32.9     issue of Columbian Centinel, Extraordinary, May 22, 1793, in which Richard Austin advertises imported Brittania and japanned wares    

 

 

Boxes 5-6: negatives

 

Box 7: slides:

            Pewter porringers;

 church pewter

 

Box 8: slides:

            Tableware;

            Spoons;

Basins

 

Box 9: slides:

pewter canns (continued in next box)

 

Box 10: slides:

pewter cans;

tankards;

beakers;

candlesticks;

lamps;

displays of pewter;

letters and articles about pewter;

furniture marks;

silver marks

 

Box 11: slides:

            Pewter marks;

            paintings

 

Box 12: slides:

            Plates;

            Mixed metals;

            Odds and ends