Collections record Beta

Collection Record Detail

Object Name

Jewelry Box

Object Number

2023-34-1

Description

Rectangular jewelry box with hinged top lid. Wood box with dovetailed corners and black japanned exterior. Lid and front panel decorated with painted floral motifs and inlaid mother of pearl. Shield-shaped escutcheon on front panel. Interior covered with decorative paper, printed with red and blue geometric design. Inset into lid is a looking glass or mirror, held in place by a wood liner painted black and decorated with painted gilt motifs. Label pasted inside box, with handwritten text, "Beckwith."

Provenance

Descended in the Beckwith family of Litchfield.

Comment

The Litchfield Manufacturing Company was founded in 1850 by Dr. Josiah G. Beckwith, a local physician and druggist who operated a medical practice and pharmacy on South Street in the building currently occupied by the Post Office. After founding the company Beckwith acquired the property on South Street along the Bantam River that a decade earlier had been used first by Wadsworth, Lounsbury, and Turner, and later by Julius Peck & Co., to manufacture shelf clocks. At the time Beckwith acquired the building it measured 80 feet by 50 feet and was three stories high. In 1851 the Litchfield Manufacturing Company was incorporated and several investors, including circus owner P.T. Barnum, joined the Board of Directors. The company manufactured papier-mache goods such as small tables, card cases, fire screens, portfolios, small boxes, vases and clock cases as well as metal nails, ornamental hinges and clasps for everything from trunks to daguerreotype cases. Trained papier-mache workers from England and Germany were brought to Litchfield to work for the Company and train local men and women in the technique. At its peak, the factory employed over 50 people. The success was short lived however. In 1854, P.T. Barnum persuaded the board to move the factory to East Bridgeport. A year later, due to financial difficulties, the factory closed.