Rare North Carolina Pewter Plate, Mark of Jehiel Johnson (1784-1833)

Fayetteville, North Carolina, circa 1815-1822, stamped twice with maker's touch mark "[eagle] / JJ" to the underside, of round form with shallow flange.

8 in. diameter

From the Collection of Quincy and Betty Scarborough, Fayetteville, North Carolina

Jehiel Johnson was probably apprenticed to William Danforth in 1798-1805. Johnson seems to have made a partnership arrangement with Jacob Eggleston upon the completion of his apprenticeship. When Eggleston moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina, Johnson ran the Connecticut shop. After Eggleston died in 1813, and without a partner and perhaps insufficient funds to outfit a shop, Johnson sold groceries with his brother in Middletown until September 1815. The formation of Johnson, Hall and Co. was announced in the Middlesex Gazette in September, 15, 1815. Two years later, their advertisement indicated the firm sold tinware, pewter, and block tin articles. This seems to have been a sale office with no product being produced. They bought goods from Samuel Danforth for re-sale. The firm of Johnson, Hall and Co. also appeared in the Fayetteville, North Carolina newspaper indicating that they were selling in both locations. Early in 1817, Johnson left the firm to join William Nott and Samuel Babcock in a venture that involved pewter. In 1818, Johnson and Nott purchased property in Fayetteville. The Middlesex Gazette announced that the Johnson-Nott partnership was dissolved by July 1819. Johnson and his family are listed in the 1820 census for Middletown, Connecticut.

Biography Courtesy of the Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware

Good estate condition; some scratches and denting.