Archives of American Art

Arthur J. Stone workshop/Stone Silver Shop/Stone Associates records

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.stonasso
Creators:
Stone Associates (Gardner, Mass.)
Arthur J. Stone (Firm : Gardner, Mass.)
Stone Silver Shop (Gardner, Mass.)
Dates:
1824-1958
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
15.1 Linear feet
1 Linear foot
Addition
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Records documenting silversmith production by Arthur J. Stone, his workshop, and Stone Associates.
Scope and Contents
Included are ca. 11,000 drawings, including bench drawings, designer's master drawings, architect's drawings, and ca. 1,000 "scales" or templates, made from full scale drawings; files from Stone's workshop containing an index to photographs, information on clients, and work summaries including dimensions, name, craftsmen's initials, hours, weight, and price; stock number cards, circle and gauge cards, and daily hours cards; files for Stone Associates containing work summary and stock cards.
Scope and Contents
Also found are photographs of Stone, his workshop, and silver pieces, (mainly taken by his wife, Elizabeth Bent Stone, 1912-1937), and objects made by Stone Associates; photograph albums of duplicate prints; clippings, 5 exhibition catalogs, and brochures; 17 letters; 2 essays on silverware by Jerome A. Heywood; records on stock number card categories; lists of silver gauges, weights, and circles; ten sections of plaster casts of chased silver forms by Arthur J.Stone; and a trade catalog of James Dixon and Son, Sheffield, England, undated. A microfiche of a card file is included with the records.
Scope and Contents
Records from the Arthur J. Stone workshop, including measured drawings; templates; albums of photographs of work, including commissions for leading Episcopal churches and churchmen, Yale and Harvard Universities, private patrons in Boston and N.Y., and for Stone's leading client, George Booth of Cranbrook, Michigan; photographs of an exhibition, and of Stone, his workmen, and his shop. Also included are Stone's copies of a few English silver and metalwork trade catalogs, ca. 1824-ca. 1937.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Arthur J. Stone was a leading silversmith from Gardner, Massachusetts. He was trained and worked in Sheffield, England, and Edinburgh, Scotland prior to coming to the U.S. in 1884. He was one of the last silversmiths in America to train apprentices to carry out designs in handwrought silver.
Biographical / Historical
In 1901, Stone set up a workshop in Gardner, which operated under his name until its sale in 1937 to Henry Heywood, a Gardner businessman, who renamed it first as The Stone Silver Shop, changing it later to Stone Associates. Heywood died in 1945, and his sons Henry, Jr. and Jerome ran it until 1957, when they disbanded.

Administration

Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Jerome A. Heywood, 1979-1980 and Janet J. Loop, 1997. When Stone sold his shop to Heywood, he included the records to insure the continuity of the work. Stone retained records relating to his early work. These were donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston by Stone's family. According to Stone's niece, Elenita Chickering, who processed the papers, approximately 3 trunks of accounts and letters were destroyed in the 1940s by Stone's widow, Elizabeth Bent, to insure client's anonymity. The 1 ft. of records donated by Janet Loop, daughter of Herman Glendenning, were given to Glendenning by Stone's widow. Loop donated them along with some of her father's own designs and other papers, which are cataloged separately under Glendenning.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C., Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information.

More Information

Other Finding Aids

Other Finding Aids
Finding aid is available in all Archives of American Art offices.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Decorative arts -- Massachusetts -- Gardner Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Silversmiths -- Massachusetts -- Gardner Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Silverwork Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Booth, George G. (George Gough), b. 1864 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Glendenning, Herman W., 1906-1997 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Stone, Arthur J., 1847-1938 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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