Souvenir spoon: 1894 GAR Encampment

1894

Maker

Robert Wallace & Sons (founded 1875)

Measurements

5-3/4 in x 1-1/4 in x 7/8 in

Materials

Silver with a gold-washed bowl

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.1228

Inscription

“28th NATIONAL / 1894 / ENCAMPMENT / GAR.” is in raised letters at the end of the handle. “PITTSBURGH” is in the bowl.  “RW&S” touchmark and “STERLING” are stamped into the bowl near the handle.

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner

Comments

The Grand Army of the Republic was an association of Civil War veterans of the Union Army and other services.  Founded in 1866, it was finally dissolved upon the death of its last member in 1956.  The first "encampment" was in 1866.  Encampments followed every year from 1868 to 1949 and were held in different places throughout the nation.  Some 100,000 members and visitors attended the 28th encampment in Pittsburgh in September 1894. 

The handle of this spoon represents a US Springfield Model 1861 .58 caliber rifled musket that fired Minié balls.  It was the standard long rifle of the Union Army.

The bowl depicts the Pittsburgh city crest, which was derived from the family crest William Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), for whom the city was named. 

Despite acquisitions by new owners, the Robert Wallace silver company continues to operate as Wallace Silversmiths.

Bibliography

Accumulation & Display:  Mass Marketing Household Goods in America, 1880-1920 (The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1986), p. 129.