William Mitchell, Jr.
Pair of Spurs and Buckles

MakerAmerican, 1795–1852, active 1818–1845
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Pair of Spurs and Buckles
Datec. 1815–1845
Made inRichmond, Virginia, United States
MediumSilver
Dimensions(Each spur): 2 3/4 × 2 11/16 × 4 3/4 in. (7 × 6.8 × 12.1 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by William J. Hill
Object numberB.86.3.A-.D
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Kilroy Center
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

As early as 1642 Kiliaen van Rensselaer presented a pair of gold- and silver-plated spurs to William Kieft, who represented his American interests.  Spurs must be counted among the more unusual commissions that the American silversmith received. Paul Revere, Jr., never mentions the form in his silversmithing accounts, whereas Joseph Richardson’s papers indicate that he produced and imported both silver- and close-plated examples, the latter referring to steel dipped in tin with a silver foil burnished on.

Technical notes: The wheels, or rowels, are iron and secured by pins. 

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff.  American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


Provenance[Bernard and S. Dean Levy, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1986.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Mark of William Mitchell, Jr. with pseudohallmarks of an eagle and a head [Cutten 1952, p. 153, second row, left]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Ladle
William Mitchell, Jr.
c. 1818–1845
Silver
B.97.60
Spurs
Frederic Remington
no date
Pen and ink on paper
43.69
Pair of Buckles
no date
Silver
37.62.A,.B
Pair of Buckles
no date
Gold
37.63.A,.B
Shoe Buckles
early 19th century
Copper, silver, paste stones, and steel
94.666.A,.B
scan from file photograph
William Baily, Jr.
c. 1816–1850
Silver
B.87.6.1-.12
A Map of the British and French Dominions in America
John Mitchell
1756
Engraving with outline color on paper
B.77.18.5
A Map of the British and French Dominions in American
John Mitchell
1756
Engraving with outline color on paper
B.77.18.4
A Map of the British and French Dominions in America
John Mitchell
1756
Engraving with outline color on paper
B.77.18.3
A Map of the British and French Dominions in America
John Mitchell
1756
Engraving with outline color on paper
B.77.18.2
A Map of the British and French Dominions in America
John Mitchell
1756
Engraving with outline color on paper
B.77.18.8