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Soon after they started turning out a variety of
hand shaped household utensils and selling
them door to door. By mid-century their
business was flourishing, despite the tariffs
imposed on their imported tin sheets.
German immigrants in Pennsylvania also
carried on their more European toleware
tradition utilizing not only metal, but wood,
and painting on pieces of furniture and other
wood objects. The Pennsylvania Dutch style
(“Dutch” being derived from the German
word for “German” – “Deutsch”) is charac-
terized by its use of bold color and design.

From Tinplates to Toleware
Tinsmithing was a hand trade. The
“tinplates” used to create toleware were created
with thin sheets of charcoal-smelted iron
which had been reduced in a rolling mill
and then coated with melted tin—three dips
for single tinplate, six for a more durable
tinplate—creating a heavier and longer
lasting metal than the light tin used today.
The tinsmith, working the sheets into
various utensils such as pans, pails, cheese
cradles, teapots and caddies, breadboxes,
bake ovens, measures, and cups, made
patterns for the various parts of each piece.
These patterns were outlined onto a sheet of
tin and cut with a mammoth pair of shears;
the more intricate details were cut using
smaller versions of these shears referred to as
tinsnips. These were then formed into their
finished shape by a few simple tools specially
adapted to the purpose. The various parts of
an object were then
soldered together
using a composi-
tion of tin and
A Dressed-up a small charcoal
lead placed in
forge to heat the
blend into solder.
Poor Man’s Silver tinsmith turned the
Before soldering, the

by Maxine Carter-Lome, Publisher Canister, United States;
1840-76; Winterthur Museum,
Bequest of H.F. du Pont,
he term tôle, derived from the French tôle peinte, meaning “painted sheet metal,” 1958.3029
refers to the decorative process of applying paint and lacquer to tin, initially as a
Tway to prevent common household objects from rusting but later as a form of
embellishment. In the antiques and collectibles marketplace, toleware refers to decorative
objects created from metal, typically tin or thin steel, lacquered and adorned often in
decorative styles such as Arts and Crafts and Pennsylvania Dutch.
Wildly popular in the late 18th century, with a short-lived
revival mid-20th century, toleware is today experiencing a second
renaissance among collectors and enthusiasts who love the look
and affordability of these decorative, utilitarian objects.

Toleware Comes to America
Decorated tinplate caught on in Europe in the first half of the
18th century and by mid-century, painted tin objects made in
England were being sold to the colonies, as were the thinly
milled, tin-plated sheets themselves. It is Edward and William
Pattison who are generally credited with introducing “American-
made” toleware. The brothers, tinsmiths by trade, came over
from Ireland in about 1740 and settled in Berlin, Connecticut. A Handpainted
1749 English law that forbade the production of tin in America toleware tray
prevented the brothers from plying their trade until they could with its stand 19th c. Pennsylvania
secure a steady and reliable source for the raw goods from England.
toleware coffee pot sold for
$327.60 at Pook & Pook
March 2024 31