Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
58.48 |
Object Name |
Stencil |
Title |
Collection of Brass Stencils |
Artist |
Bery, Jean Gabriel |
Date |
1781-82 |
Description |
Walnut box contains 397 brass stencils, including four decorative borders and one "Mr. Franklin" name plate. Also included in the box are ten stencils unoriginal to the set. A wooden block with black chalk and three additional pieces of colored chalk were discovered in a side-drawer of the box. The box is marked Marked "BERY/ Faiseur de Caracteres,/ En Cuivre & en aci[e]r. Fait/ Toutes Sortes de Vi[gn]ettes/ Demeure Sur Le Pont Notre Dame/ du même Côté & Près la Pompe/ A Paris" on the interior of the lid. |
Label |
Benjamin Franklin purchased this box of nearly 400 original brass stencils, including nine complete alphabets, in Paris in the early 1780s. As a printer, Franklin was passionate about letterforms, and he had a special fondness for script and decorated letters. He may have used his stencils to make visiting cards and other small hand-printed cards or signs. |
Material |
Stencils: brass; Box: walnut |
Dimension Details |
Box (closed): 3.375 x 12.5 x 10 |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society |
Search Terms |
18th century eighteenth century printing Founding Father French France |