Furniture Hardware
1820–30
Medium
Gilt brass
Dimensions
Diam. 2 1/8 in. (5.4 cm)
Classification
Furniture hardware
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Edward Hunting Smith, 1968
Accession Number
Inst.68.8.50
Art Historical Context
This elegant piece of furniture hardware was created by American artisan Henry Kellam Hancock between 1820 and 1830. Measuring just 2 1/8 inches across, the small gilt brass object reflects the refined metalwork that enhanced furnishings in early nineteenth-century American homes. Its compact scale highlights the precision required to produce functional yet decorative elements for daily use. The gilding technique applied to brass gave the piece a warm, golden appearance that mimicked costlier materials, making elegant details more attainable for households of the period. Such hardware contrib...
About the Artist
Henry Kellam Hancock · 1816–1851
Henry Kellam Hancock (1788–1854) was a prominent American cabinetmaker based in Boston, Massachusetts, where he contributed significantly to the city's early nineteenth-century furniture trade. Son of Captain Belcher Hancock and Ann "Nancy" Susan Ackers, he entered the profession as a chairmaker around 1816 and transitioned to cabinetmaking by 1826, maintaining workshops on Orange Street from abou...