Souvenir spoon: Great Barrington Bryant House
Wallingford, Connecticut
1892-1900
Maker
Wallace Silversmiths (founded 1875)
Measurements
4-1/4 in x 7/8 in x 5/8 in
Materials
Silver, gold-washed bowl
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.
Accession Number
1971.1049
Inscription
“Bryant House Great Barrington Mass” is across the top of the image inside the bowl. “RW&S” and “STERLING” are stamped into the back of the spoon.
Provenance
Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner
Comments
The spoon handle has an ornately foliated outline. The bowl has an image of a "saltbox" colonial house (having a straight roofline in the back) identified as that of the poet William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878). Identification of the house is complicated by his owning several summer houses as well as his NYC residence. This one was probably the house he owned while practicing law in Great Barrington. It is shown in photographs of 1903 and 1911, the latter after the ground floor was apparently excavated.
