Fingerplate
Maker & role
Unknown, Maker
Production date
1875-1925
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Object detail
Measurements
0 - Whole, L: 27 x W: 7 x D: 5cm (L: 270 x W: 70 x D: 50mm)
Credit line
Purchase, 1990
Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caption
Fingerplate, 1875-1925
Description
A fingerplate of amber glass, cut in diamond pattern. Cut glass fingerplates, like this example, were available at least as early as the 1880s - a similar example appears in the James Cartland & Son trade catalogue for 1886 where it is available in crystal, amber, or black. By the 1930s, finger plates began to disappear from the trade catalogues, though cut glass examples remain. However, the examples appear to become more squared at the top and bottom and not curved to a point like this example.
This item is part of a large collection of builders' hardware acquired from Sydney locksmith and hardware merchant, T H Longshaw. T H Longshaw [Thomas Henry] commenced in business in 1889 from a shop at 279 Pitt Street Sydney. A 1910 advertisement describes T H Longshaw as "Practical locksmith... lock and key importer". The firm opened a new shop at 72 Goulburn Street in c1912 and remained there until 1989. Following Thomas' death in 1919, his son, also Thomas Henry, eventually took up the reigns of the business. A third generation also entered the business and the firm maintained city premises until a ceasation of lease forced a move in 1995. The collection of builders' hardware acquired from T H Longshaw was, according to the family, probably collected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by Thomas Henry Snr, some accumulated during his time in business and other pieces purchased at auctions.
This item is part of a large collection of builders' hardware acquired from Sydney locksmith and hardware merchant, T H Longshaw. T H Longshaw [Thomas Henry] commenced in business in 1889 from a shop at 279 Pitt Street Sydney. A 1910 advertisement describes T H Longshaw as "Practical locksmith... lock and key importer". The firm opened a new shop at 72 Goulburn Street in c1912 and remained there until 1989. Following Thomas' death in 1919, his son, also Thomas Henry, eventually took up the reigns of the business. A third generation also entered the business and the firm maintained city premises until a ceasation of lease forced a move in 1995. The collection of builders' hardware acquired from T H Longshaw was, according to the family, probably collected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by Thomas Henry Snr, some accumulated during his time in business and other pieces purchased at auctions.
Accession number
L90/25-3
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