Description:
Pewter candlestick by Rufus Dunham, marked "DUNHAM" in a rectangle, who worked in Westbrook, Maine from 1837-1860. Rufus Dunham (1815--?) of Portland, Maine was a major producer of pewter during the britiannia period. Britannia was a harder metal than the earlier pewter, with greater resistance to wear; lead was eliminated and replaced with combinations of tin, copper and antimony. According to Laughlin in "Pewter in America", Dunham was born in Saco, Maine and ran away in 1831 to Portland, Maine where he apprenticed himself to Allan Porter in Stevens Plains, Westbrook, Maine, for two suits of clothes per anum, his board, and $50 in cash. He broke the contract in 1833 because he was not paid for overtime, and for the next four years worked for Roswell Gleason at Dorchester and later in a shop in Poughkeepsie, New York. He purchased moulds and tools in 1837 and returned to Stevens Point to open his own shop with his brother John as a helper. At first, his lathe was operated by foot power, then by a horse on a treadmill, and finally by a steam engine (he was the second man in Maine to use steam power). At one point he employed 20-30 men and his wares were sold in northern New England and Canada. In 1861, his buildings were burned and the business moved to Portland where his two sons, Joseph and Frederick, became partners, operating under the firm name of 'Rufus Dunham and Sons'; the firm closed in 1882.
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