Bradley & Hubbard Arts & Craft Brass Letter Holder

Antiques : Bradley & Hubbard : Arts & Craft : Brass : Letter Holder

 

This is a brass letter holder produced by the company Bradley and Hubbard (1852 -1940s). Its measurements are 8” ¾ x 4” ¾ and its height is reached by the dividing handle at 5” ½. The scene is complete in detail... a two-bar fenced jumped over by the Stag, with it’s full growth of antler rack, and hot in pursuit are hunting dogs racing along-side the fence fast after the Stag. You can almost see the breath of the stag and hear the yelp of the dogs. Even the foliage growth across the fencing is depicted in this elaborate work of nature in art.

As a stand it can be a useful item for any desk to hold the daily correspondence or even as a handy note holder.

Walter Hubbard was one of the inspirational leaders of the Roycroft movement in New York, well known for their Arts and Crafts industry. He and his brother-in-law, Nathaniel Lyman Bradley, started making cast iron clocks, tables, frames, andirons, lamps, chandeliers, sconces and sewing machines in 1854 in Meriden, Connecticut where they established the firm of Bradley and Hubbard. While they may be best known for their bookends and lamps they also produced other products many which are among the world's finest metal wares of the late 19th/early 20th century. Their products are excellent examples of their genres and there is an extensive collection of Bradley & Hubbard pieces at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

Bradley & Hubbard pieces are usually, but not always, marked with their characteristic triangular mark that has an Aladdin’s lamp in the center or with a circular mark with a B&H in the center (this is an older mark than the Aladdin’s lamp mark). The marking on this piece is the ‘B&H’ but the bottom of the letter holder has a sealing coat over the bottom which makes the reading of the mark almost impossible to read yet it definitely is there.

Item ID: RL 2