Name/Title
Textile trademark stampEntry/Object ID
2024.21.1Description
A thick wooden block with embedded overlapping and intersecting copper strips forming the pattern of one of the trademarks of the Laconia Mills in Biddeford, Maine. The strips form the words "LACONIA / MILLS / BIDDEFORD / MAINE" in reverse for printing. Four lines of text in three different upper case typefaces are surrounded by flowing scroll work. Thicker areas of the individual letters are filled with a material to provide definition as are a few of the scrolls. Red, green, and yellow paints are a later addition and not part of the original stamp. The top surface of the block is chiseled away in certain areas. On the back is the stenciled label of John Preston, the manufacturer. Three pairs of holes with dark oxidation on the back also indicate where a pair of metal brackets would have been originally attached.Context
The stamp is a trademark stamp, a visual symbol for products of the Laconia Mills easily recognizable in a foreign country such as China, a destination for much of the fabric produced by the mills
.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
StencilLocation
reverseTranscription
"JOHN PRESTON / COPPER / STAMP. MAKER / LOWELL MASS."Material/Technique
PaintDimensions
Height
10 inWidth
11 inDepth
2 inMaterials
Material
Wood, Copper, PaintMaterial Notes
Half inch flat copper strips.
