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Souvenirs from Makers of
Sheet Metal Work |
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4932 A raised
electrotype copper relief picture framed in wood with a caption at the
bottom reading: 'Compliments of Portland Electrotype & Stereotype Co.' who
were at 42 N. Ninth Street, Portland, Oregon. This was probably a Christmas
giveaway to clients of this company sometime between 1900 and 1910 although
the company lasted until after 1927. The illustration is a 19th Century
scene of a mother working over the fireplace hearth, with one child awaiting
his food and the other on Papa's knee. The detail is excellent and the
copper has a rich golden brown patina under original lacquer during its
hundred years of life. The plaque is 130 x 100mm (5 x 4”) and is in a frame
that has seen life, being no longer sealed on the back. |
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8893 Brass wire
gauge issued by Aston Chain & Hook, Erdington, Birmingham. There is a wire
gauge on one side reading in Imperial inch decimals and Standard Wire Gauge
and on the other side a ready reckoner giving a cost conversion from pence
per pound to pounds per hundredweight and pounds per ton on the other. It is
made from four different thin sheets of copper and brass with the top two on
each side rotatable to give the relevant readings in the windows and
measures 55mm (2¼”) in diameter. |
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9110 Ladle, dish and
circular tray made in copper and boldly marked by Soho Foundry, Ballarat,
Australia. These were made by two brothers who restarted a near derelict
factory in 1972 using all the old belt driven machinery that had originally
been obtained from the Soho works in Birmingham. The operation closed down
in 1980, when one of the brothers died it was taken over by the State
government as a museum. The ladle is 195mm (7¾") long, dish is 140mm (5½")
diameter. |
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2997 Pillbox
promoting E. Thomason’s Manufactory, Birmingham. This is an early 19th century
circular brass box with traces of gilding. The inside of the box has a very
clear raised image of a fine large Georgian house with a central Greek
pediment. Below that is the legend - also in tiny raised letters - 'E.
Thomason's Manufactory Birmingham'. Because of the fine stamped brass open
work of the lid it is possible that this was a box for smelling salts.
Thomason was a commercial rival and outspoken critic of Matthew Boulton. In
the 1835 Wrighton Directory he is described as Sir Edward Thomason,
jeweller, silversmith, glass cutter, plater and manufacturer of plated wares
in Church Street. He had another address at 20, Colmore Row. By 1867 there
is no sign of the factory in a Church Street nor his office, which was then
a bank at 20, Colmore Row. |
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2990 6347 6425 These
are the three designs of tea caddy that were made by Samuel Heath & Son as
'Lipton's Souvenir Tea Caddies' at times during the British Empire
Exhibition of 1924, 5 & part of 1926. The three different designs carry
design registration numbers that were allocated to Samuel Heath & Sons and
also have ‘Liptons’ underneath. Each shows the symbolic Exhibition lion
design is raised from the body and the lid has a well proportioned knop.
The caddies were made of very thin brass
put to good use so it is now unusual to find one without a few dents.
Samuel Heath and Sons Limited have been
brassfounders in Birmingham since before 1820 when they made brass bedsteads
and candlesticks. The company was floated on the Birmingham & West Midland
Stock Exchange in 1890. The family run firm have produced a wide variety of
products over the years including candle snuffers, bedsteads, coffin
furniture, locks & builders brassfoundry. In the early days of the
Birmingham motor industry they made motor lamps for coachbuilt car bodies.
They have occupied their premises at Cobden Works in Leopold Street,
Birmingham since the 1860’s.
The height of the one shaped like an inverted pear is 135mm (5½"), weight
123g (4oz).
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9155 Copper button
badge with relief of the 'ankh' symbol for copper that was produced for a
meeting of the Polish Copper Institute in 1985. When allocating symbols to
each of the metals that they knew, Greek philosophers adopted the ankh for
copper as the Egyptian hieroglyph for ‘eternal life’. Diameter 10mm (3/8"). |
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5539 Bead Chain
Manufacturing Company Copper PAPERWEIGHT |
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6020 Beacon display
of curtain rail fittings. |
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6283 ATERITE
ASHTRAY Art Nouveau Copper Nickel Done in an Art Nouveau Style ... "
Compliments of ATERITE COMPANY INC N.E.COR JOHN & WILLIAM STREETS NEW YORK
CITY " on surface ........ATERITE is a rare alloy of Copper & Nickel. My
guess is 1910-1930..Very nice patina,nickley..........Measures 6 inches at
widest, tapers to 5 at some points . .......Has a great tooled style to it ,
with Fantastic geometric patterns ....BACK IMPRESSED WITH MARK of SD CHILDS
& CO. CHICAGO. |
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7003 The round
dished pin tray is made of good quality brass, with a milled rim and a
central pressed/stamped boss which reads " COX WILCOX & CO. BIRMINGHAM SMALL
SPIRIT LAMPS & STOVES" with an oil lamp to the middle against a
cross-hatched ground.A nice interesting advertising item!! It measures 4"
diameter and just under 1/2" high. There is no mark as to manufacturer but I
suspect it was made in Birmingham and dates from c.1900/10. 19th/20th
Century Brass Advertising Pin Tray. Cox Wilcox & Co. Birmingham-Lampmakers/Retailers.
Cox,Wilcox & Co., Ten Acre Works 1117 Pershore Road, Stirchley West
Midlands B30 2YL Tel: 0121 472 1250 the scene above, this shot shows a
view from the northern end of Stirchley looking towards Selly Park. The
narrow section of Pershore Road cuts through an area known as Ten Acres.
This was the home of Cox, Wilcox & Co. Ltd and I was delighted when a
housing development in the area retained the frontage of the works
building. The yellow and red sign on the bicycle shop says, "Ride a Norman
Nippy Moped - British Built". Underneath, S.R.Pountney offers a way to
finance the purchase, "Hire Purchase Arranged". [http://www.photobydjnorton.com/BirminghamInColour.html
] |
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7068
Dornach
souvenir cymbal celebrating 90 years of manufacturing from 1895-1985 and
made from a sonorous alloy made within the Swissmetal Group. In 1855, a
rolling mill and foundry, Bueche, Boillat & Cie., was founded in Reconvilier
in the Bernese Jura. This company changed its name several times before the
formation of Swissmetal: from 1960 it was called Boillat S.A. The first
plant in Dornach was also a rolling mill and foundry operated under the name
Schweizerische Metallwerke AG Dornach. The Selve rolling mills in Thun were
in the group until closed in 1991. Busch-Jaeger Metallwerk GmbH, Lüdenscheid.
Germany is another group member. Initially set up to meet the exacting
needs of the Swiss watch industry, it now produces precision copper-alloy
forms and profiles for the semiconductor electronics industry. |
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9126 Enfield
Rolling Mills Ltd (ERM) Laboratory
Dinner Dance Ticket, Firs Hall, Green Lane, Edmonton 20th December 1967.
These tickets were etched from 'engraving copper'. This was a
silver-bearing copper with fine grain size rolled to close tolerances and
good surface finish for use in the printing industry. Unusually, when the
manager of the Rolling Mills was invited to pay for his tickets he was
reluctant to pay good money to buy back his own copper! |
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4066
Delta Enfield
Rolling Mills (DERM) banding clip used for identification at the same
time as to secure the steel bands holding
coils together during transport and delivery. ERM lapel badge
used for staff identification on site. |
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Ashtray pressed by
Burt Bros. of 7,8,9,10 @11 Edward Street, Parade, Birmingham to
celebrate their 150th anniversary. They were listed in a 1946
directory as braziers, coppersmiths, metal spinners, stampers and piercers
and makers of sheet metal pressings. Domestic copperware bearing their
name can still be found in antique shops. |
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A promotional copper
ashtray made by the coppersmiths Norman Gledhill & Co. Ltd of Blackpool. It
is made from inner and outer pressings with a roll seam at the top giving an
excellent light weight but rigid form with a diameter of 120mm (4 3/4") and a
height of 45mm (1 3/4"). Norman and Joseph Gledhill started the company in
1926 in small workshop in Blackpool, making domestic copper cylinders and
also hoodings for fireplaces in some local public houses with a staff of 2
coppersmiths, driver, salesperson and book-keeper. They were taken over by
Delta Metal Company in the 1960s but were still managed by the two sons,
Keith and Houghton Gledhill. The firm is still in business, independent
again and still run by the brothers with help from others in the family
making custom made cylinders to suit special applications. Besides the
strong family involvement there are about 200 other employees. The
Company's motto is "Only the best is acceptable".
Gledhill |
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