On View
Not on viewPencil Boxes
Artist
J. and Son Thoreau
Date1850-1860
Terms
- Pencil Boxes
- Gilt
- Paper
- Pasteboard
- Concord (Massachusetts)
Dimensions10.15 × 17.13 × 11.42 cm (4 × 6 3/4 × 4 1/2 in.)
MarkingsLabel: "A piece of Shanty at Walden (missing)/ Pencil Box - pasteboard/ Leads/ 13 Thoreau pencils/ From the Thoreau Collection/ of/ Alfred A. Hosmer/ Gift of Herbert B. Hosmer".
Credit LinePoint of Sale Pencil Box, John Thoreau and Co., Concord, MA, 1850-1860. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of Mrs. Herbert B. Hosmer; Th106 & Th 59.
Object numberTH106
DescriptionPasteboard box. Covered with bright blue paper, gilt lettering. The box contained leads for pencils, pieces of pencils (Th106a-q).
The two boxes in the collection (Th59, Th106) appear to be point-of-sale display boxes. They are covered in a dark cobalt blue paper printed in gold ink. On the top, within an ornamental border, is printed, "One Gross/ Superior Graduated/ DRAWING PENCILS/ for/ Artists, Engineers, & c./ 1,2,3,4,/ Manufactured by/ JOHN THOREAU & CO./ Concord, Mass." The sides announce their superior qualities: "Warranted free from inequalities and grit," and "Warranted [not to be affected by] changes in temperature." The first is guaranteed by the graphite separator they used, the second by use of clay as a binder for the graphite, rather than wax. On the front is printed, "J.T. & Co. invite ARTISTS AND CONNOISSEURS, who are particular in the choice of a pencil, to compare theirs with the others in the market, feeling confident that they will be found equal to any, whether of domestic or foreign manufacture, in all the qualities which constitute a GOOD PENCIL."
The two boxes in the collection (Th59, Th106) appear to be point-of-sale display boxes. They are covered in a dark cobalt blue paper printed in gold ink. On the top, within an ornamental border, is printed, "One Gross/ Superior Graduated/ DRAWING PENCILS/ for/ Artists, Engineers, & c./ 1,2,3,4,/ Manufactured by/ JOHN THOREAU & CO./ Concord, Mass." The sides announce their superior qualities: "Warranted free from inequalities and grit," and "Warranted [not to be affected by] changes in temperature." The first is guaranteed by the graphite separator they used, the second by use of clay as a binder for the graphite, rather than wax. On the front is printed, "J.T. & Co. invite ARTISTS AND CONNOISSEURS, who are particular in the choice of a pencil, to compare theirs with the others in the market, feeling confident that they will be found equal to any, whether of domestic or foreign manufacture, in all the qualities which constitute a GOOD PENCIL."
Collections
- Henry David Thoreau Collection
Object number: 2018.9.10.1
Object number: 2007.261.177
Alfred Munroe
January 4, 1880