AFA 18th Anniversary

2018 Antiques & Fine Art 191 applied moldings that vertically orient the single-board, two-sided sign. X-ray also verified that the original wrought-iron armature is affixed to the sides with period nails. The sur viva l of this colonia l trade signboard, in its remarkable state of preservation, is extraordinary. How the sign survived, however, is unknown. Had it remained on Tannatt’s Newburyport property, the sign most likely would have been burned by the great Newburyport fire of 1811, when nearly sixteen acres in the town’s old waterfront area were completely destroyed, including the site of Tannatt’s old bakery. 7 He may have brought it with him to Boston when he opened his new bake house, but the sign was in Newburyport in 1858 when it was prominently displayed at a Newbur yport historica l exhibition, suggesting perhaps that it had remained in the town with one of his children. 8 Several years later, however, Currier’s History of Newburyport (1906) noted its whereabouts were undetermined. 9 A 1916 rediscovery of the sign in a Newburyport attic was heralded in the Boston Post as “a relic of the days of our grandfathers,” 10 but it disappeared again for nearly a century, only to reemerge anew at auction. 11 CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Detail of left side of wrought-iron armature. Photo, Jason Copes, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Close up” “All sorts of Bread Made & Sold here by Tho s Tannatt.” Photo, Jason Copes, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Microscopy of leaf surrounding shield. Photo, Kirsten Travers, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Robert Bower is an independent researcher and former educator. Norman Gronning is a historian and antiques dealer specializing in early American furniture and decorative arts. 1. Will of Thomas Tannatt, June 1759, in Essex County Probate Records, Vol. 336, p. 330. 2. Guardianship of Thomas Tannatt, March 1767, in Essex County Probate Records, Vol. 343, p. 431. 3. Essex County Deeds, March 1774, Book 132, p. 269. 4. www.masshist.org/online/massmaps/clough-img-viewer. 5. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988 , at www.ancestry.com. 6. A Brief History at www.bakers.co.uk. 7. An Account of the Great Fire which Destroyed about 250 Buildings in Newburyport On the Night of the 31st of May, 1811 (Printed by W. & J. Gilman, Newburyport) at www.archive.com. 8. “The Fair of the Pleasant Street Religious Society,” Newburyport Herald (April 22, 1858). 9. John J. Currier, A History of Newburyport, Mass. 1764–1905 (Newburyport, 1906), 36. 10. “Find Sign 142 Years Old: Revolutionary Relic at Newburyport,” Boston Post (April 7, 1916). 11. Thanks to Sharon Spieldenner and her team at the Newburyport Public Library archive department, who traced land deeds of Tannatt’s bake house site to present- day 29 Middle Street, and to Kirsten Travers and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s conservation department.