paperweight, unknown maker from the United States

The nation’s official symbols were designated by the Continental Congress in 1782. These artifacts reveal the power and longevity of American iconography disseminated into objects of material culture. The inclusion of George Washington, Justice, and Liberty transformed imported British wares into tantalizing souvenirs of a violent revolution, domesticated and democratized for subsequent generations. National patriotic symbols could endorse a political candidate, such as the humble frontier log cabin and hard cider barrel utilized by William Henry “Tippicanoe and Tyler Too” Harrison for his campaign. They could convey messages of abolitionism as seen in the figure of Uncle Tom from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. As consumers, Americans have endorsed national ideology with their patriotic purchasing power.