55th Annual Delaware Show

At first glance, the catalogue looks like an odd assortment of designs, but clues on the pages suggest this is not entirely the case. Organized by George Wyon, a silver chaser, the compilation is part design book, part catalogue, and part scrapbook. Wyon was the successor to Jee, Eginton & Co., a Birmingham, England, business that manufactured looking glasses and metal ornaments. Wyon likely inherited the book or some of its parts from that firm. Wyon’s creative edits are readily visible as you page through the catalogue and encounter pieces cut-and-pasted together; items torn or removed from the final binding; thinned paper from erasure marks; and engraved text and illustrations. The rough, joined edges on each full page indicate that many of the drawings were taken directly from other design books and sources. Clues from Trade Catalog of Composition Ornament reveal a businessman and craftsperson who is asserting both physical and textual claims of ownership. Wyon’s name appears on five of the eight ink drawings, signifying his contribution to the contents. Although the catalogue mostly comprises original designs from Jee, Eginton & Co. and Jaques and Son, a London-based firm that produced composition ornament, several engravings of mantelpieces contain erased areas where the prints’ original attributions had been located. Several pages of Jaques and Son’s designs include the following admonition: “***Beware of piratical productions, which are only copied from the originals of this manufactory.” 2 Wyon’s annotation, “received from themselves,” conveniently sits on the next page, implying that he received the designs directly from John Jaques. Wyon uses a similar phrase to credit the designs of James Thorp, the director of an independent composition ornament firm. 3 The catalogue appears to have illustrations from other hands as well. This mixing and matching of designs from multiple contributors reflects the exchange of ideas within the British design community. The catalogue is a testament to relationships between business owners and craft professionals so important to understanding trades like composition ornament making. Composition ornament, known as “compo,” is a type of plaster meant to imitate earlier handmade plaster, which required great skill to create and handle properly. The recipe for compo is similar to that for plaster but incorporates ingredients like oil and resin to make it more malleable. Once composition was available, production changed dramatically, and manufactories such as those represented in Wyon’s catalogue sprouted across England. Plasterers simply had to press the compo material into reverse-carved molds they created from boxwood, iron, or plaster to produce handsome decorative ornament. 4 The designs for such molds were inspired by a variety of architectural drawings, pattern books, and other sources. According to architectural historian Mark Reinberger, “composition ornament was first recorded in America in 1788,” but mentions of the material actually appeared five years earlier. 5 In 1783 the Pennsylvania Evening Post advertised James Butland’s purchase of composition ornament, referring to the product as “a secret in every other part of Europe. It is now the very quintessence of fashion in that country [England], in buildings of all denominations.” 6 As demonstrated by this ad, Americans still looked to Great Britain for the most fashionable furniture, clothes, and interior design, and — 108 —