Anderson, Hilary2020-06-112020-06-111996http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/27229"Materials in this document have not been filmed at the request of the author. They are available for consultation, however, in the author's university library. Figures [on] pages 81-90"--Unnumbered page inserted by UMI after page 80.Boston silversmith Zachariah Brigden (1734--1787) practiced his craft for over three decades at his shop in Cornhill. Looking at Brigden's career through his daybook, a picture of the variety and types of work undertaken by a colonial silversmith develops. This picture reveals the skills, contacts and strategies a craftsman employed to make a living in urban eighteenth-century America. ☐ Brigden's work and location do not make him an unusual craftsman, but the preservation of his daybook, as well as some receipts, family papers and over one hundred objects he produced provide a rare opportunity to examine a craftsman's work. This study is primarily based on Brigden's 1765-1775 daybook. ☐ Variety in tasks and clients characterized Brigden's work throughout his career. In order to satisfy his clients Brigden not only fashioned silver objects but repaired objects and arranged for engraving. As well, he sold jewelry and silversmithing tools. Brigden's clients ranged in social position from bakers and milkmen to merchants and councilors. Brigden drew his clients from the ranks of his neighbors, business associates, silversmithing colleagues, family connections, relatives and fellow church members. No one group provided the bulk of his clientele. To earn a living Brigden needed both his skills as a silversmith and his contacts with a wide range of people who would bring him business. The information and interpretation presented in this study will be useful in analysis of eighteenth-century silver objects, the silversmithing craft and the society that utilized silver objects and employed silversmiths.Brigden, Zachariah, 1734-1787Silversmiths -- Massachusetts -- BostonThesis1157343960