Copperplate laterally reversed above, as engraved below

With sincere thanks to W. Allen Scheuch II, Princeton Class of 1976, the Graphic Arts Collection has an early 19th-century engraved copper plate from the Highland Jeans company. There is no information on this manufacturer other than a series of 1839 dry-goods advertisements by Samuel Seay in Tennessee.

In searching historic cotton and woolen mills from the time, in that area, John N. Lovett, Jr has written a detailed survey available online. A small section is posted below.

The manufacturers of textile machinery found their beginnings well before the Civil War, primarily in the New England area. Prior to that time, almost all textile machinery was built in England. The primitive machines fabricated in the United States in the years following Samuel Slater’s arrival in Rhode Island in the 1790’s were hand-crafted by artisans according to specifications furnished by a handful of knowledgeable people. The first machines built were carding machines, similar to the one surviving in Ketner’s Mill in Marion County. The spinning jack, a vast improvement over the jenny, was invented in England around 1810, and began to appear in American textile mills in New England circa 1820. Power looms first appeared in New England about 1815.

By the 1840’s, all these machines were universally employed in the larger textile factories. It is obvious from the surviving schedules of the 1820 Census of Manufactures for Tennessee that several carding machines were in operation. There are also some references to spinning factories prior to 1820 in the state, but these recollections are often difficult to verify. One source accepted as reliable is Eastin Morris’ Tennessee Gazetteer of 1834. This remarkable work includes references to three spinning factories, six cotton factories, and a cotton/woolen mill in the state. It is also known that several textile factories were in production in the state in the 1840’s. By this time, large manufacturers of textile machinery were established in New England. Some of the better known are highlighted below.

The Davis and Furber Company of North Andover, Massachusetts, was established before the Civil War, and survived until recent years. It was perhaps the longest-lived and largest manufacturer of most types of textile machinery, including pickers, cards, and spinning jacks and mules. The only product of this company known to survive in Tennessee is an 1866 Davis and Furber finishing card at Falls Mill in Franklin County. Crompton Loom Works. In the early 1840’s, a large textile mill in Massachusetts put into operation several power looms designed by a newly emigrated British mechanic named William Crompton. Soon after, the Crompton Loom Works was established in Worcester, Massachusetts. William’s son George took over the business later, and by 1876 the company was producing an extensive line of looms of many types. The company became Crompton and Knowles and continued to build looms well into the twentieth century. The only Crompton looms known in Tennessee are the three in the Falls Mill collection, two small plain looms and a large broad loom, manufactured in the early 1870’s.

Rhode Island manufacturer William Dean Davis began his business selling kerseys and linseys, for example, but in 1839 added all-wool jeans and plains. Jean was most commonly all cotton or cotton warp with a woolen weft, in a twill (diagonal rib) weave, and categorized with other durable fabrics meant for working clothes, such as fustian and denim.–Historic Context Evaluation For Mills In Tennessee by John N. Lovett, Jr., Ph.D. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired this large (302 x 208 x 21 mm) pearwood woodblock titled at the bottom “Saint Louis Roy de France.” The standing figure of St Louis, King Louis IX of France (1214-1270) holds a scepter in one hand and a crown of thorns in the other. On his right, a ship sails towards land on the left, which has been identified as Aigues-Mortes, his departure point for both the Seventh and Eighth Crusades. Sadly he never returned from the latter, victim of an epidemic, probably typhus, that devastated his army.

“St Louis, King Louis IX of France (1214-1270). Christian saint; son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile, succeeded his father as King of France in 1226 (although his mother acted as regent until 1234). In 1234 m. Marguerite of Provence. Leader of the Crusades (1248 & 1270), he was taken prisoner in Egypt and released in return for the surrender of the French army and a ransom. Died near Tunis. Canonized in 1297.”—British Museum database

The size of this woodblock leads us to believe it was intended for a broadside or large popular print. Do you recognize it? We would love to identify the print(s) made from this striking woodblock.

If you were a person of sufficient means in the 18th century, you might own and carry a pocket watch. So treasured were these watches that many were designed with a second, outer case to protect the delicate mechanism. Between the inner and outer casing, it became fashionable to insert small circular engravings, printed on square sheets and then cut out and inserted.

By 1780, the various engraved portraits of beautiful women slipped into a gentleman’s pocket watch became the subject of “A Dissertation upon Watch-Prints” by Bob Short in The Westminster magazine, London (Dec 1780): 691-691.

While these circular prints have become collectables, few can boast the copper printing plates that produced them. We are proud to say the Graphic Arts Collection is the new owner of three copper printing plates for watch-papers. Each can be attributed to John June (active 1740-1770), after Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), and published by Robert Sayer in Fleet Street, ca.1766.

The female subjects are:

Miss Nelly O’Brien. Printed for Rob.t Sayer, at No 53 in Fleet Street. Plate: 164 164 x 1.15mm, barely rounded corners. On the back: punched for correction; engraved outline of a man in a large hat crossed through. Provenance: Iain Bain (1934–2018), Bewick scholar and printing historian.

Lady Selina Hastings. Sold by Rob.t Sayer in Fleet Street. Signed ‘J. June Sc.’ Plate: 63 x 70 x 1.27 mm, rounded corners. On the back: closely spaced lightly scratched lines: O’Brien by Reynolds, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

Countess of Waldegrave. Printed for Rob.t Sayer, at No 53 in Fleet Street. Plate: 63 x 55 x 1.27mm, barely rounded corners. On the back: makers stamp B.W. under a crown (B. Whittow of Shoe Lane) with burin trials around and filling in the letters; punched for correction; lightly scratched lines, traces of ink.

Copper plates with the digital image inverted below.

Each of these ladies were the subjects of paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds, later reproduced in mezzotint and widely distributed. While John June is confirmed to have engraved only one plate, we can attribute the others to him as well. Robert Sayer’s catalogue of 1766 contains a list of sixty-one ‘Designs in miniature for watchcases’ engraved by Louis Philippe Boitard at 3d. plain and 6d, so it is possible the same portrait was reproduced by several engravers over the years. See more in London 1753 by Sheila O’Connell, et al. (2003). Marquand Library DA682 .O28 2003

Reynolds, Joshua; Nelly O’Brien (d.1768); Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/nelly-obrien-d-1768-138887

41 electroplated printing blocks ([Solingen, Germany?: n.p., ca.1920s]). Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020-in process

Graphic Arts acquired a small collection of 41 electroplated printing blocks depicting dental and surgical instruments presumably for a trade catalogue, ca. 1920?.  Some of the blocks present sets of tools and some represent individual knives, scalpels, or scissors. These are not fresh samples, all the blocks have been inked and used. All have the remains of glue and paper on the underside of the block, indicative of patching or ‘bringing up’ the block to sit level inside the chase, reading for printing.

The dealer found a faint stamp on the side of the wood, which was read as Lauterjung & Hautzel … fabrik u. galvanoplastik, Solingen. Known as “the city of blades,” Solingen is located in the North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

“For many centuries the name Solingen was [the] embodiment of high quality knives, cutlery and more. It is not surprising, that many companies try to make use of this name by selling their goods as “Made in Solingen”, although they have not been produced in this city. In order to fight this fraud, Solingen became the only city in the world whose name is a registered trademark. The so called “Solingenverordnung” regulates the use of the brand “Solingen” since 1938.”

The archive of Nordrhein-Westphal makes reference to a Lauterjung & Hautzel of Solingen in 1926, describing them as ‘Lieferant von Holzschnitten und Galvanos’ (suppliers of woodcuts and electroplating), suggesting that they were responsible for producing the blocks. In 1941, to celebrate the 50 anniversary of S. Lauterjung Söhne, Metallwarenfabrik [metal goods factory] in Solingen, a catalogue was prepared by Kurt Hartwig, which may have some relationship to our blocks.

One other possible connection to the blocks might be Carl Martin GMBH, also founded in Solingen in 1916. “Carl Martin have concentrated on manufacturing and distributing high-grade instruments for dentistry. Our more than 95 years of experience in raw materials, development processing and the requirements for daily use in hospitals, practices and laboratories have made us one of the world´s leading manufacturers of dental instruments.”

Louis Léopold Boilly (1761–1845), Le Baume d’Acier [The Balm of Steel], in Recueil de Grimaces, 1823. Lithograph. Graphic Arts Collection

The Graphic Arts Collection recently acquired a group of 83 perforated designs or pounce patterns, assumed to be stencils made to transfer a design to fabric for embroidery or other decoration. In addition, there is a circular from August Bernard, described as the successor to Leon Cendrier, “designer, manufacturer, & importer of perforated French stamping patterns for braiding and embroidery,” located at 401 Canal Street, New York City. There is nothing on the sheets to verify they are from Bernard’s shop, but the flier confirms he had, at that time, the largest collection of such patterns in the United States, so it is likely these came Bernard.

One other possible source for these vegetable parchment patterns might be Mrs. T.G. Farnham. On the verso of one of the decorated initial patterns is the rubber stamp of “Mrs. T.G. Farnham, Art Needlework, Stamping, Embroidery, Etc., 16 West 14th St., N.Y. City.”

In the 1880s, Farnham advertised perforated patterns etc. for sale in such magazines as Harper’s Bazar and The Youth’s Companion and was the author of Home Beautiful, a Descriptive Catalogue of Art Needle Work (New York, 1884).

The article on the left was found in New York’s Great Industries: Exchange and Commercial Review, Embracing Also Historical and Descriptive Sketch of the City, Its Leading Merchants and Manufacturers .. (Historical Publishing Company, 1884). Neither Bernard or Cendrier are listed.

Of course, anyone can make their own patterns but these are extremely detailed and regular in their piercing, suggesting they were made by an experienced commercial vendor.

Both Bernard and Farnham also sold the colored powders and fine felt pounces used to apply the powders to the patterns. The same waxy blue powder is found on the rectos of most of the patterns in the portfolio, indicating they were all used by the same person. One of the patterns bears a partial watermark “CO. DALTON MA”, suggesting that the vegetable parchment was made by Crane and Company.

Most paper stencils were used and soon discarded as they became worn out. The Graphic Arts Collection has a number of metal stencils and horsehair Japanese stencils but very few on paper or vegetable parchment as these have been described. This is a rare surviving collection.

83 needlework stamping patterns and a circular issued by August Bernard of New York City ([New York: August Bernard?, ca. 1880s]). Graphic Arts Collection GAX 2020- in process.