Martha Gandy Fales, known as M'Lou, was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia. She graduated from Wilson College in 1952 and received a master's degree from the University of Delaware in 1954, having been a member of the first class of fellows in the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture. Mrs. Fales began her career as assistant curator and then Keeper of Silver at Winterthur Museum. Over the years, Mrs. Fales contributed articles on American decorative arts to The Magazine Antiques and other journals. In addition she has written several books on American silver and one on jewelry and has served as a consultant to museums and historical societies.

Mrs. Fales first wrote about the Richardson family of silversmiths for her master's thesis. Later, she did more research and collected photographs of the Richardsons' work, resulting in a book Joseph Richardson and Family: Philadelphia Silversmiths, published for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania by Wesleyan University Press in 1974. This collection contains the research notes, photographs, and correspondence that led to the publication of the book. It addition, it includes other materials collected after the book came out. Photocopies of Richardson family letterbooks, daybooks, and account books are present, but there are no original manuscripts relating to them. The collection contains some information about other silversmiths, but no original research about them.

Information about the Richardson family is found in all boxes of the collection. Box 4 contains mostly photographs, many of which were used in Mrs. Fales' book. These have been filed by the figure number on the photograph. Additional photographs will be found in boxes 1 and 2. Boxes 7 and 8 contain note cards.

An original trade card for John Cook, a coppersmith and brasier in Philadelphia, is in Box 1. This card and copies of theses found in Box 5 are the only materials in the collection not directly related to the Richardsons.

None

Copyright restrictions may apply

Gift of Martha Gandy Fales

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Repository code: DeWint File name: col573.xml Abstract: Martha Gandy Fales was Keeper of Silver at Winterthur Museum. These papers are the notes she accumulated during the research and writing of her book Joseph Richardson and Family: Philadelphia Silversmiths. Extent: 3 feet Date range: 1954-ca. 1991 Related materials: Language: English Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera Winterthur, DE 19732 (302) 888-4853 Martha Gandy Fales Richardson Family Research Papers Col. 573 Creator: Martha Gandy Fales Title: Richardson Family Research Papers Dates: 1954-ca.1991 Call No.: Col. 573 Acc. No.: 98×28 Quantity: 8 boxes Location: 35 C 1