Fred Allen & Company
Dinner Fork (one of a pair)

Public Domain

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Retailer Fred Allen & Company (Galveston, Texas, active 1870–71, 1895–1901)Galveston, Texas, active 1870–71, 1895–1901

CultureAmerican

Titles

Dinner Fork (one of a pair)

Datec. 1870–1871, c. 1895–1901

Probable placenortheastern United States

Retailed inGalveston, Texas, United States

MediumSilver

Dimensions1 × 1 × 7 3/8 in. (2.5 × 2.5 × 18.7 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of William J. Hill

Object numberB.2018.56.1

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Texas Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

METALWORK

DescriptionA Galveston native, Fredrick Allen (1849–1901) enlisted in the Confederate army at age twelve. In the 1868–69 Galveston directory, he is recorded as an engraver with the firm Prince & Barnum. The following year, Allen entered business under his own name, F. Allen & Co., advertising in the Texas Almanac as a dealer in diamonds and fine watches. His independent venture did not last; in 1871, Allen moved to Memphis, Tennessee, probably to work for one of his former employers at F. D. Barnum & Co. He remained there until at least 1874 and is recorded as either a salesman or an engraver in the city directories for those years. About 1876 he returned to Galveston and took a position managing the jewelry store of T. E. Thompson, remaining there for the next twenty years. Upon Thompson’s death in 1895, Allen and two partners purchased Thompson’s interest and established Fred Allen & Company. As a large retail outlet, the store offered an extensive inventory. In 1901 Allen died of heart failure, and the remaining partners purchased Fred Allen & Company, forming Nobbe & Roempke.
ProvenanceWilliam J. Hill (1934–2018), Houston; given to MFAH, 2018.
Exhibition History"Made in Texas: Art, Life and Culture: 1845–1900," Beeville Art Museum, Texas, September 20, 2014–January 10, 2015.

"A Texas Legacy: Selections from the William J. Hill Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 2, 2016–January 2, 2017.

"Texas Silver, William J. Hill," Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, March 1–June 1, 2017.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

[no inscriptions]

Marked on back of handle: F. A & Co GAL. TX. [incuse]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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