Platter

Object/Artifact

Saco Museum

Name/Title

Platter

Entry/Object ID

2010.40.39A

Description

Colorless non-lead oval platter in the "Centennial" or "Liberty Bell" pattern. Scalloped rim with handle projections. At the center of each is the Liberty Bell with the inscription above: "DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 1776 1876" and on the rim: "100 YEARS AGO" and the names of the thirteen original states.

Context

Both Gillinder & Sons and Adams & Company of Pittsburgh made glass tablewares in the immensely popular Liberty Bell pattern. Small differences make it difficult to attribute a piece to one factory or the other, an effort complicated by the fact that replicas were also made for the Bicentennial in 1976. A designer working for Gillinder & Sons, James C. Gill, is credited with designing the so-called "Signers Platter" which is very similar but has the names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence around the border rather than the names of the colonies or states.

Made/Created

Date made

circa 1876

Dimensions

Height

1-1/2 in

Width

9-1/2 in

Length

13 in

Material

Colorless pressed glass, "Liberty Bell" pattern

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

Platter, 1876 Probably Gillinder & Sons or Adams & Company Philadelphia or Pittsburgh Glass Jones Museum of Glass and Ceramics 2010.40.39A Both Gillinder & Sons and Adams & Company of Pittsburgh made glass tablewares in the immensely popular Liberty Bell pattern. Small differences make it difficult to attribute a piece to one factory or the other, an effort complicated by the fact that replicas were also made for the Bicentennial in 1976.