54 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 1908 



Betsy assisted the Revolutionary patriots quite as valiantly 

 at home while engaged in melting up the pewter spoons and 

 teapots, and turning out precious bullets, which they sent to 

 the American soldiers. It is stated that during the famous 



Battle of Germantown 

 scarcely a spoon or tea- 

 pot, or any other pewter 

 utensil, was to be found 

 in the immediate vi- 

 cinity, as the patriotic 

 residents took them 

 freely to the Metzgar 

 house to have them 

 transformed into bullets 

 to increase the Amer- 

 ican supply of ammu- 

 nition. 



When the Philadel- 

 phia suburb of B r y n 

 Mawr was known as 

 "Humphreysville" — a 

 name derived from 

 Benjamin Humphreys 

 and his mother Eliza- 

 beth, who were among 

 the earliest settlers 

 there, and the largest 

 property owners in the 

 vicinity in 1685 — there 

 was evidently more 

 pewter in use there than 

 in any other part of 

 Pennsylvania. Pewter 

 is claimed to have been manufactured in this place as early 

 as in New England — in the middle and latter part of the 

 seventeenth century. The Humphreys, descendants of these 

 early settlers, include among their most treasured heirlooms 

 rare pieces of pewter, dating back two hundred years or more. 

 Thomas Danforth was one of the most prominent of the 

 early pewter workers of Eastern Pennsylvania, and his pieces 



Colonial Spoon Rack and Spoons 



A Colonial Pewter Teapot 



were usually marked; sometimes with the name "T. Dan- 

 forth, Philadelphia," and later with a circular stamp about 

 the size of a five dollar gold piece, inclosing a figure of the 

 American eagle standing on an oval bearing the initials 

 "T. D.," surrounded by 

 twenty-eight stars. 



A rare shrine service is 

 found in the Dr. Robert H. 

 L a m b o r n collection of 

 pewter in the Pennsylvania 

 Museum. It consists of a 

 large central incense burner 

 and side vases of incense 

 receptacles. The work rep- 

 resents the application of 

 European designs to Chi- 

 nese art, each of the 'pieces 

 being supported by figures 

 of men in high hats, knee 

 breeches, and swallow-tail 

 coats, certain parts of the 

 costumes being covered 

 with colored lacquer, the 



hats, for example, being a bright pink. These figures, which 

 stand about a foot in height, are well executed, and the ma- 

 terial is of excellent quality. 



The curator of the Pennsylvania Museum, Dr. Edwin 

 A. Barber, who has given the writer much valuable informa- 

 tion concerning the earliest of Colonial pewters, has pro- 

 duced some particularly interesting facts concerning special 

 types of wine flagons, curious shaped ale mugs, and fluid 

 lamps of various ornamental forms. It is claimed that 

 there are many qualities, real or imaginary, which are 

 attributed to pewter, such as its peculiar adaptability to the 

 use of malt liquors. The old judges of the merits of ale 

 and beer tell us that these beverages never possess so rich a 

 flavor when drunk from other vessels as when quaffed from 

 pewter mugs. This idea has persistently obtained through 

 all the centuries of pewter making, even to the present day, 

 and it is a matter of historical record that in the year 1828 

 a certain faction of the Democratic party in New 

 York City, which was opposed to the Tammany 

 candidates, were known by their opponents as 

 "pewter-muggers," because their meetings were 

 held over pewter mugs in a well-known resort in 

 Frankfort Street. This fact of the pewter serving 



Washington's Mess-chest and His Camp Outfit with Its Articles of Pewter Ware 



Matchlock (Snuffers) Used at Clean Drinking Manor 

 During the Revolution 



the double purpose of giving additional flavor 

 while forming a convenient receptacle for the 

 liquors, accounts for the numerous varieties of 

 mugs, goblets, flagons and tankards in museum 

 collections. 



The illustrations show some of the best types 



