President Grant’s gorgeous personally-owned table knife, measuring 10.75″ long, featuring a beautiful pearl handle carved with maple leaf designs and stamped on the blade, “Presented by the workmen of the Lamson & Goodnow Mfg. Co., Shelburne Falls, Mass, March 1869,” with another stamp of a patriotic eagle lettered below, “U. S. Grant, President of the United States.” Representing the Lamson & Goodnow workers, B. F. Pond presented a 62-piece dinner set to President Grant on November 17, 1869; half of the pieces were set in pearl handles and the other half in ivory, all engraved with the same maple leaf designs on the handles. President Grant sent a message to the workers in response, writing, ‘It affords me special pleasure to see American Manufacturies succeed in making those things which are generally articles of import. The specimens of cutlery sent me affords such evidence in one line of Manufactury at least.’ It is indeed a wonderful knife in itself, and such visually appealing personal articles that are specifically mentioned within presidential papers represent the highest echelon of collectibility. A truly stunning piece with the potential for an attractive display.
