Antique Piasa Bird Sterling Souvenir Spoon Alton Illinois Mechanics Silver Co

Description

Antique late 19th century sterling silver souvenir spoon by Mechanics Silver Co, with a handle emblazoned with a Native American bust in feathered headdress, corn stalks, bow and arrows. The bowl depicts a scene of two Native American’s encountering Illinois’ mythical Piasa Bird perched on a cliff.

“Piasa bird, mythical monster depicted in a painting on a cliff overlooking the Mississippi River north of Alton, Illinois, U.S.

The French explorer Jacques Marquette provided the earliest extant account of figures painted on the bluffs near what is today Alton, which he and Louis Jolliet saw on their trip down the Mississippi in 1673. According to a translation of Marquette’s diary, they came upon “two painted monsters” that were “as large as a calf; they have horns on their heads like those of deer, a horrible look, red eyes, a beard like a tiger’s, a face somewhat like a man’s, a body covered with scales, and so long a tail that it winds all around the body, passing above the head and going back between the legs, ending in a fish’s tail. Green, red, and black are the three colors composing the picture.” In his diary, Marquette marveled at the technical skill of the painting—he found it difficult to believe that it had been created by “any savage”—and claimed that the section of the cliff on which it appeared would have made its creation difficult at best. Marquette also claimed to have made a sketch of these monsters, but that sketch was later lost. Several other 17th-century accounts exist, but, according to an article by the scholar Wayne C. Temple , the last creditable one dates to 1698, when the observer claimed that the painting had nearly disappeared. These accounts differ on the details of the “monsters” depicted, and at least one suggests that the painting included an unremarkable-looking horse. Temple’s article claims that there exist no accounts of paintings near Alton between 1699 and the first decade of the 19th century and that those from the early 19th century are contradictory. A sketch made of the painting in 1825 has survived. It depicts a horned, seemingly scaly creature that suggests some of the exotic details claimed by Marquette.

In 1836 John Russell, a former professor from a town near Alton, published an account of the painting that also provided a backstory for the figure depicted in it. According to Russell, this creature is known as the Piasa; the “name is Indian, and signifies in the language of the Illini, ‘the bird that devours men.’” The Piasa once terrorized Native American villages, Russell claimed, killing many warriors before it was slain by the chief Ouatoga, who had offered himself as bait and had 20 warriors with poisoned arrows wait in ambush for the monster. When the Piasa swooped down to attack Ouatoga, it was killed by the barrage of poisoned arrows, thus saving the tribe. To this story, which Russell attributed to “all the tribes of the Upper Mississippi, and those who have inhabited the valley of the Illinois,” he added a vivid description of a cave filled with the bones of all those killed by the Piasa, estimated to be in the thousands.

Russell later acknowledged to his son that he had fabricated this account, but, within a few years of his article’s publication, this legend of the Piasa was being repeated and elaborated upon, such that it became widely accepted. A variety of explanations of the painting exist today, ranging from credible attempts to place what Marquette claimed he saw into the broader context of Native American culture and the history of European colonization of North America to outlandish claims about Chinese exploration of the Mississippi.

The painting of the Piasa (or Piasa Bird) continues to be a local landmark in Alton, though some or all of the cliff on which the original painting appeared was quarried and thus destroyed during the 19th century. The painting was re-created and restored several times during the 20th century. A major restoration occurred in the 1990s, when it measured about 50 feet wide by 20 feet tall (15 by 6 metres), though it was subsequently vandalized.”

""Mechanics Silver Company was a maker of sterling silver flatware and souvenir spoons, a subsidiary of Watson & Newell Co. The meaning of the ""H"" in the flag is unknown.""
""Watson Company - The origin of the firm traces back to 1874 when was formed in Attleboro, MA, the Cobb, Gould & Co. The founders were Clarence L. Watson, Fred Newell, Charles Cobb, Samuel Gould and W.A. Battey.
The firm produced a line of jewelry goods, mainly gold plated.
Between 1875 and 1880 Battey, Cobb and Gould withdrew from the partnership and Watson and Newell, the only ones left, formed a new firm operating under the name Watson & Newell (1880-1886).
In 1887 Joseph R. Ripley joined to the business and the firm changed its name to Watson, Newell & Co. In 1891 also Edward L. Gowern entered the partnership. The business continued with success and, needing larger quarters, in 1894 the old Mechanics Mill property was bought opening the new factory in 1896.
The name changed to Watson & Newell Co, while Mechanics Sterling Company was the name of the subsidiary flatware branch. In 1899 the firm obtained its first flatware patent (Clarence L. Watson) and began a wide production of flatware and souvenir spoons.
Failing health forced Fred Newell to retire from the active participation to the firm shortly after the turn of the century. He remained as a non-active partner until his death (1910).
In 1904 the sleeve and collar buttons division became a separate operating unit with the name of Standard Button Company under the direction of Ripley and Gowen.
In this period the firm produced hundreds of sterling souvenir spoons depicting a variety of subjects.
Beginning about 1900, Watson produced a line of sterling hollow-ware for Wilcox & Wagoner of New York using the ""sword and laurel wreath"" mark. Wilcox & Wagoner closed down c.1905 and Watson continued producing with this mark until 1929.
In 1920 ""The Watson Co"" was incorporated taking in charge all the silver operations. Many new flatware patterns continued to be introduced on a regular basis.
At the death of Clarence L. Watson (1930) the management of the firm was assumed by his son-in-law Grover Richards.
In 1955 the business was sold to R. Wallace & Sons.
The dies of Watson souvenir spoons (as many as 3000), sold by Wallace, in the 1970s were in unused possession of The Inman Co Inc. of Attleboro, MA.""

Condition

Good Overall - Tarnish/gentle wear

Dimensions

5.5” x 1.125” / 18.3 g (Length x Width/Weight)