Isaac C. Lewis - designs, exhibitions and historical information

ADC staff
artdesigncafé - design | Design Meriden | 24 September 2020 | Updated 21 July 2021



A. Isaac C. Lewis designs in collections


This resource webpage is in development.

Info/photo status: = info and photo online
= info online, no photo
= completely offline


1810s

1810-30 - teapoon

Isaac C. Lewis. (1810-30). Teaspoon. (Accession no. 1962.0240.394. Viewed 25 February 2021. J01225).


1830s

1834-52 - teapot

Isaac C. Lewis. (1834-52). Teapot. Cast Britannia metal. (Accession no. 1996.135.0. Viewed 27 September 2020. AAA00034-37).

  • Offline - Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford.

1834-1852 - porringer

Isaac C, Lewis. (1834-1852). Porringer. Pewter. (Accession no. 1987.0094. Viewed 25 February 2021. J01224).

1835-45 - porringer

Isaac C. Lewis. (1835-45). Porringer. Pewter. (Accession no. 00.4.80. Viewed 6 October 2020. J00833).


1840s

1840-50 - coffeepot

Isaac Chauncy Lewis. (1840-50). Coffeepot. Britannia metal. (Accession no. 1999.14.1. Viewed 27 September 2020. J00782).


1850s

c. 1850 - pitcher

Isaac C. Lewis. (c. 1850). Pitcher. (Accession no. 182022. Viewed 21 February 2021. J01136).


n. d.

n. d. - teapot

Isaac C. Lewis. (undated). Teapot. (Viewed 25 February 2021. R01341).



B. Isaac C. Lewis designs in exhibitions


1960s

This section is in development.



See our Design Meriden compilation listing over 1000 exhibitions since 1851, featuring historical design associated with the Meriden area.



C. Isaac C. Lewis - historical information (by year)


Material status: = online
= link to more info
= completely offline


1800s

Various newspapers, magazines and other sources

(c. ). Various newspapers, magazines and other sources - search engines.


1840s

1849 - book

Perkins, G.W. (1849). "Appendix 12. Manufactures in Meriden in 1849... I. C. Lewis [presumably]— Britannia ware of various kinds; 8 hands; raw material $8000... " In Historical sketches of Meriden, (pp. 115-17). Franklin E. Hinman: West Meriden. (Viewed 11 June 2016. A00779-80).


1850s

1856 - map

(1856). Map of New Haven County, Connecticut [with marking for I. C. Lewis & Co. Britannia Factory (East Meriden)]. H & C. T. Smith: Philadelphia. (Viewed 1 October 2020. E01632).


1860s

1868 - Lewis house, Meriden

(1868). Recent photos: Isaac C. Lewis house, Meriden. (Viewed 6 October 2020. E01676).


1880s

1882 - Lewis’s summer house, Branford

(1882). Recent photos: Isaac C. Lewis’s summer house, Branford, CT. (Viewed 6 October 2020. E01675).

1889 - article - event

(24 May 1889). Ex-mayor Parker’s cane; the presentation at his home last evening [with mention of Isaac C. Lewis]. Meriden Daily Journal, p. 4, col. 3. (Viewed 17 December 2020. D01599).

"... The venerable ex-mayor [Charles Parker] received his visitors seated in a large arm chair in his beautiful parlors, and was assisted by ex-Mayors Horace C. Wilcox and I. C. Lewis... Mrs. Horace Wilcox... Ex-Mayor Doolittle’s Address... ’When we became a city we looked to you to take the lead and we then and have ever since believed there was no one to take such unless it was our friend, Mr. Parker... ". (Excerpt from above.)


1889 - news mention - social event

(24 May 1889). Meriden’s first mayor; a pleasant evening with Hon. Charles Parker [with mention of Isaac C. Lewis]. Meriden Daily Republican, p. 1, cols. 6-7. (Viewed 23 December 2020. D01595).

"... presented [Charles Parker] with the elegant gold-headed cane... He was assisted in receiving the visitors by ex-Mayors Horace C. Wilcox and I. C. Lewis... The visitors strolled through the parlors, admiring the works of art, which were so richly exhibited, and the old vets were particularly pleased with a set of etchings of army scenes... " (Excerpt from above.)



1930s

1936 - spotlighted article mention

Snow, William G. (17 April 1936). Meriden’s silverware industry history [with mention of Isaac C. Lewis]. The Meriden Daily Journal [Fiftieth Anniversary issue (1886-1936)], unknown page number. (Viewed 30 December 2020. D01699).

1936 - article mention

(17 April 1936). International Silver Co. [with mention of Isaac C. Lewis]. The Meriden Daily Journal [Fiftieth Anniversary issue (1886-1936)], unknown page number. (Viewed 25 November 2020. D01700).


1950s

1956 - book mentions

Wendover, Sanford H. (1956). On Isaac C. Lewis, (pp. 22, 62, 86, 88, 95, 100, 152, 213). In 150 years of Meriden. Meriden: Meriden Sesquicentennial Committee. (Published in connection with the observance of the city’s sesquicentennial, June 17-23, 1956). (Viewed 27 November 2016. A00789-90; E01635-36).

"... [In 1844, Charles] Parker is reported to have been the first local manufacturer to plate spoons and forks. Some hollowware was also made... Ashbil Griswold and others were making pewter kitchen utensils in Meriden as early as 1808... By 1850, Ashbil Griswold, the pioneer, was producing britannia ware in North Meriden or Fraryville. James A. Frary and Couch & Benham made similar wares nearby. In East Meriden, or Bangall, Isaac C. Lewis, George Curtis, and Darius Bingham, Jr. turned out britannia ware in addition to pewter. The Curtises, Edwin E. and Lemuel J., were making britannia on Curtis Street. Enos Curtis had a britannia factory at the north end on Britannia Street. The pewter shop of William W. Lyman was also on Britannia Street. S. L. Cone and L. G. Baldwin were also engaged in Britannia manufacture... Some factories employed 40 or more hands..." (Excerpt from above, p. 84 & 86.)




Click the following link to see designs and documentation for other historical companies from the Meriden area, and those that were connected to the International Silver Company; go to the historical Meriden design overview page and scroll down to section D: "ISC, predecessors & divisions", E: "Other featured companies" and G: "Featured early pewter / britannia / silver makers".



1970s

1974 - article mention

Hogan, E. P. (April 1974). The inventive W. W. Lyman of Meriden, Conn. [with mention, and illustration, of Isaac C. Lewis]. Spinning Wheel, pp. 14-7. (Viewed 14 July 2021. R01505).

1974 - article mention

Hogan, E. P. (September 1974). Ashbil Griswold— pewterer [with mention of I. C. Lewis]. Spinning Wheel, pp. 18-22. (Viewed 21 July 2021. R01570).

1979 - article mention (reprint)

Hogan, E. P. (November 1979). Ashbil Griswold— pewterer [with mention of I. C. Lewis]. Spinning Wheel, pp. 16-20. (Viewed 21 July 2021. R01569).


2000s

2007 - article

Turano, Andrew F. and Smith, Robert G. (Summer 2007). Isaac Chauncy Lewis, britannia worker [and cover]. [Portrait illustrations and building illustration on cover; with Lewis & Cowles mark; reprinted 1851 advertisement; with some photos of designs]. The Bulletin (Pewter Collector’s Club of America), vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 3-18. (Viewed 25 February 2021. R01341).


2010s

2010 - book, portrait photo and caption

Franco, Jan Leach. (2010). Meriden [includes portrait photo and caption of Isaac C. Lewis and photo of his Victorian house on East Main Street, Meriden, built 1868], p. 14. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC.