EXCEPTIONAL GOLD RUSH POCKET SCALE WITH GREEN, ENAMELED TIN, GILT EAGLE & LETTERING THAT READS: “MADE EXPRESSLY FOR CALIFORNIA,” circa 1850

EXCEPTIONAL GOLD RUSH POCKET SCALE WITH GREEN, ENAMELED TIN, GILT EAGLE & LETTERING THAT READS: “MADE EXPRESSLY FOR CALIFORNIA,” circa 1850


Dimensions (inches):	Frame: 21.25" x 16.5"
Description:
“Miners' Improved Gold Scale,” made circa 1850, with green-enameled & gilt-painted, patriotic carrying tin. This pocket-sized example, likely of German or Swiss manufacture, was produced for the American market in response to the 1849 California Gold Rush. Decorated with a spread-winged federal eagle, carrying a billowing streamer with the familiar Latin motto “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many, one), the text on the lid reads “Manufactured expressly for California.” The scale itself is comprised of a brass pointer, brass beam, chains, and pans. A wooden partition, custom fitted into the interior of the tin, is drilled to firmly hold the .5, 1, 2, and 4-ounce brass weights. Examples of pocket scales in similar format are known with various contents, and in various shaped tins, some oval, some rectangular, painted green, orange, or black. This style has the best decoration of any of the known types, due to its large and graphically dynamic eagle, and retains the best condition of any example that I have seen either within or outside museum collections. It is an amazing relic of the Gold Rush and a great piece of the mid-19th century patriotic America of the Wild West. Condition: Minor expected wear. The best example I have seen.



Primary Color:	green

Earliest Date:	1850

Latest Date:	1855

For Sale Status:	Available

Price	$5,800

E-mail:	info@jeffbridgman.com

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