This paperweight, in the form of a spread winged eagle with a stars and stripes ornamented shield on his chest, is an important and rare example of porcelain produced in America in the mid-1800s. In 1850, Charles Cartlidge opened a factory to produce porcelain at Greenpoint, now part of Brooklyn, New York. The factory is best known for making porcelain portrait busts, plaques, and pitchers. However a list made by Cartlidge, which notes the various objects produced in his factory, includes “paperweights in the forms of eagles and spaniels.” A paperweight closely related to this example, given to the writer Washington Irving in 1853, is documented as the product of Cartlidge’s factory. That same year, he won a prize at the New York Crystal Palace exhibition for the high quality of his work.