Clasp 1747 - 1750

This small, gold clasp was made by Joseph Richardson Sr. sometime in the 18th century. It's a delicate object, worked by hand with engraving. You can see the flower motif and the linear border decoration. The gold itself is significant. It's inherently valuable and has a warm, inviting color. But it's also soft, meaning it can be worked with relative ease, hammered into thin sheets, and engraved with fine detail. Richardson, as a silversmith, would have been very familiar with these properties. The clasp reflects a specific kind of skilled labor, the kind that transforms raw material into a refined, precious object. It's a reminder that even seemingly simple objects can be imbued with cultural meaning through the choice of materials, the way they're worked, and the social context in which they're made and used. So, next time you see a small object like this, think about the hands that made it and the world it came from.