Bakewell, Page & Bakewell to James Madison, 19 February 1816
From Bakewell, Page & Bakewell
Pittsburgh 19 Feb. 1816
Sir
Convinced that you, who have devoted so large a portion of your life to the promotion of the welfare & Independence of our Country, will not look with indifference upon the progress she is making in Arts & Manufactures, we take the liberty of sending you a pair of decanters made & cut at our Manufactory, & of which we request the favour of your acceptance.1
When it is recollected that all the materials for making Glass are found abundantly on our own soil, & how largely this article contributes to the comforts, conveniences & elegancies of life, we flatter ourselves, you will derive as much pleasure from receiving this specimen as we in presenting it. We have the honour to be with sentiments of the highest respect Sir yr. most obt. Servts.
Bakewell Page & Bakewell 2
RC (DLC). Docketed by JM.
1. The decanters bore the Great Seal of the United States with eighteen stars. One of them was sold at auction in Washington, D.C., in 1985 (see Rita Reif, “Two Decanters Create a Stir,” New York Times, 17 Mar. 1985).
2. English-born Benjamin Bakewell established a “glasshouse” in Pittsburgh in 1808. It was the first manufactory of cut glass in the United States, and it operated under several names until 1882 (Arlene Palmer, ed., Artistry and Innovation in Pittsburgh Glass, 1808–1882. … [Pittsburgh, 2004], exhibition catalogue; The Pittsburgh Directory, for 1815 [Pittsburgh, 1815; 35647], 9).