Pewter piece with mark.

[IowaRelic]

Dug this last summer. Maybe one of you could help with this mark and help ID what this is. Appears to be pewter and the mark reads BRITAW. it’s likely a spoon, but it could help further date this site. Curious to see if it’s as old as some of my buttons.

 

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[Gene Mean]

A quick Google search for BRITAW finds 19th century pewter spoons. Someone will be able to narrow it down for you.

 

[A2coins]

Cool find

 

[IowaRelic]

Do You think first half of 19th century?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I think that would be a pretty accurate date range for your spoon.
Dave

"Pewter was used for decorative metal items and tableware in the Ancient World by the Egyptians and later the Romans and came into extensive use in Europe from the Middle Ages until the various developments in pottery and glass-making during the 18th and 19th centuries. Pewter was the chief material for producing plates, cups, and bowls until the making of porcelain. Mass production of pottery, porcelain and glass products has seen pewter universally replaced in daily life. Pewter artifacts continue to be produced, mainly as decorative or specialty items. Pewter was also used around East Asia. Mugs and tankards may be the most familiar pewter artifacts from the late 17th and 18th centuries, although the metal was also used for many other items including porringers, plates, dishes, basins, spoons, measures, flagons, communion cups, teapots, sugar bowls, beer steins, and cream jugs.

In the early 19th century, changes in fashion caused a decline in the use of pewter flatware. At the same time, production increased of both cast and spun pewter tea sets, whale-oil lamps, candlesticks, and so on. Later in the century, pewter alloys were often used as a base metal for silver-plated objects."

 

[Hawks88]

Nice find. Congrats

 

[IowaRelic]

When the ground thaws in the next 2 weeks I will be getting more dug items to post from this site. I believe it to be an original land purchase from 1836 when Iowa territory became available after Blackhawk purchase. It would seem they were of English/British descent as a lot of items (mainly buttons) are from London then some eagle buttons and such. 1 1853 SLQ and some round balls. Were Americans using elnglish buttons at this time? I understand buttonmaking didn’t take off in America until after the 1830s

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

When the ground thaws in the next 2 weeks I will be getting more dug items to post from this site. I believe it to be an original land purchase from 1836 when Iowa territory became available after Blackhawk purchase. It would seem they were of English/British descent as a lot of items (mainly buttons) are from London then some eagle buttons and such. 1 1853 SLQ and some round balls. Were Americans using elnglish buttons at this time? I understand buttonmaking didn’t take off in America until after the 1830s

"The United States experienced major waves of immigration during the colonial era, the first part of the 19th century and from the 1880s to 1920. Many immigrants came to America seeking greater economic opportunity, while some, such as the Pilgrims in the early 1600s, arrived in search of religious freedom. Another major wave of immigration occurred from around 1815 to 1865. Most of these newcomers hailed from Great Britain, Northern and Western Europe. Approximately one-third came from Ireland, which experienced a massive famine in the mid-19th century. In the 1840s, almost half of America’s immigrants were from Ireland alone. Typically impoverished, these Irish immigrants settled near their point of arrival in cities along the East Coast. Between 1820 and 1930, some 4.5 million Irish migrated to the United States.

A larger share of immigrants came to America seeking economic opportunities. However, because the price of passage was steep, an estimated one-half or more of the white Europeans who made the voyage did so by becoming indentured servants. Although some people voluntarily indentured themselves, others were kidnapped in European cities and forced into servitude in America. Additionally, thousands of English convicts were shipped across the Atlantic as indentured servants. In the 19th century, the United States received some 5 million German immigrants. Many of them journeyed to the present-day Midwest to buy farms or congregated in such cities as Milwaukee, St. Louis and Cincinnati."

 

[IowaRelic]

Huge German influence in Iowa after the civil war. Really picked up in the 1870s from what I can tell. And I do know my own lineage were one of those families. My great great grandpa spoke German until he died in 1937. He migrated here in the early 1870s from my research. The property and home he built is still lived in by my cousins. I also have German ancestors from Maryland sometime in the revolutionary war time period, and that family (whose name I still carry) moved west slowly over a century to get to Iowa, stopping in Pennsylvania and Ohio along the way for a few generations. Where I live though, the English and French were primary settlers around here. Wow, I can’t wait to hunt. Dang cold.