Middletown Plate Marked Joseph Danforth - SOLD

In 1788 when Joseph Danforth Sr. passed away at the age of 30 the shop was taken over by Jonathan (1788) and William ( beginning 1790). Neither of these men had their own marking die at this point. Both men continued to use Joseph’s lion in gateway touch yet they didn’t continue to use his hallmarks. William eventually procured an eagle touch and by the striking pattern he employed there are plates marked with just the Joseph in gateway that can be attributed to him. The touches are fairly close together and not evenly aligned. On the other hand there are plates marked with the lion in gateway where the touches are evenly spaced and slightly canted away from each other.. These are attributed with confidence to Jonathan.

This plate by Jonathan still has all of the lathe marks on the face side and back. There are a couple of pits on the face and some fine nicks as if coins were tossed in the plate. The touches are mint “as struck”.