World War One Weekly Wing #38- Paye and Baker of North Attleboro, MA

[cwnorma]

World War One

Weekly Wing #38

Paye and Baker

 

 

 

Description

 

Reserve Military Aviator

 

An extremely handsome American-made World War One wing, executed in combination Art Nouveau and Beaux-Arts fashion generally evocative of the style of Augustus St Gaudens or Bela Pratt.  

 

Design wise the base badge is executed in somewhat more naturalistic fashion than many other World War One era badges.  The Beaux Arts movement included Neo-classical and Greco-Roman revivalistic elements and in a very Beaux Arts tableau, the two splayed wings on either side of the, non-flared, serious shield appear almost anatomical in execution. 

 

Artistically, the Paye & Baker badge is distinctive in design while remaining generally similar in overall proportion with other East coast wings such as those produced by; Tiffany, William Link, I Scheuer/NS Meyer, etc.  Moreover, in direct contrast to the Art Nouveau false perspective of G.W. Haltom badges, the Naturalistic, Beaux Arts, Paye & Baker badge is physically bent into an archer's bow shape to accentuate the design and create actual relief.

 

The very conservative shield is approximately acorn shaped, and exhibits little to no flare.  The chief contains 13 small raised "stars" atop a field of fine horizontal lines.  The field portion consists of alternating raised and relieved vertical columns.  The relieved columns are textured with fine vertical lines.

 

In contrast to the Beaux-Arts Neo-Classicism of the base badge, the US is die-struck in thin 14k gold using an expressive and naturalistic Art Nouveau font.  In a classic Art Nouveau motif, the US is rounded, asymmetrical, and allegorically evocative of a "worm," "snake," or "vine."

 

The badge is struck in thick stock using the solid strike or coin method.  Many badges will exhibit remains of a thin (electroplated) platinum, rhodium, or palladium finish, however this delicate finish is often completely worn away.  This sort of finish was common in the sterling cutlery industry to resist tarnish prior to sale.  The example above retains nearly all its original finish.

 

Markings

 

Most badges are only marked "STERLING" with a very rare few exhibiting a raised Paye and Baker Hallmark.

 

Mountings

 

A Blanchard (so-called Tiffany) clasp and 70 degree long pin.

 

Background

 

The Paye and Baker Manufacturing Company of North Attleboro Massachusetts was at one time one of the major producers of higher end consumer sterling silver.  The company appears to have been incorporated around 1906 and seems to have gone out of business in the 1960s.

 

1900s Paye & Baker catalog.  Note the very Art Nouveau "worm," or "snake" evocative fonts with rounded serifs and the red, vine-like tendrils (including many iterations of the S-shaped "whiplash" curve).

 

Paye & Baker were particularly famous for their expressive Art Nouveau designs exhibiting asymmetry, and curvilinear naturalistic designs:

 

Paye & Baker's most famous, and quintessentially Art Nouveau flatware design: "Psyche." The pattern demonstrates Art Nouveau sensibilities of asymmetric naturalism exhibiting stereotypical curving tendrils fashioned into an S-shaped "whiplash" curve.

 

The company had its factory at 106 Richardson Avenue, North Attleboro MA.  Attleboro and North Attleboro were late 19th Century and Early 20th Century centers of the Medallic Arts industry.  Many other famous manufacturers of medallic arts called the area home.  

 

           

The Paye and Baker Factory, North Attleboro, MA.  The building still stands today.

 

Along with their North Attleboro factory, Paye and Baker had offices and salesrooms in the "Jewelers Building" at 9 Maiden Lane,  New York City.

 

The Jewelers Buiding today (left) and approximately 1910 (right).

 

World War One Aviators stationed in Hazlehurst Field at Long Island or those returning from France through the various ports around Hoboken while on pass would likely have gone to the Maiden Lane Jewelry district in search of coveted sterling pilot wings.  For some, no doubt the Paye & Baker wing was a stylish choice.

 

The Paye & Baker badge is particularly interesting as a study in mixed artistic sensibilities.  The base badge is very Beaux Arts in motif with its Neo-Classical Greco-Roman representational naturalism.  Beaux Arts was very popular in the late 19th Century for its dramatic, romantically evocative imagery.  Beaux Arts was also quite popular in conservative architectural and military applications.  Frasier's design for the WW1 Victory Medal is yet another, very late, example of Beaux Arts Neo-Classicism in a military, medallic arts context.

 

USS Mississippi Figurehead in the Beaux Arts/Neo-Classical style.

 

USS Massachusetts figurehead (Bela Pratt) in the Beaux Arts/Neo Classical style.

 

A greatly enlarged bronze version of the Beaux Arts Paye & Baker wing would not look out of place wrapped around the prow of an 1890s Great White Fleet warship.  

 

Before World War One, Beaux Arts had generally been eclipsed by the "New Art" of Art Nouveau.  The dramatic Greco-Roman symmetry of the Beaux Arts movement gave way to sinewy tendrils, "whiplash" curves, and purposeful asymmetry.  So it was an interesting stylistic choice by the artisans of Paye & Baker to choose a very Art Nouveau font to front their very Beaux Arts wing!  By 1918, even Art Nouveau had become somewhat passe' in the art world but it would take the end of the war in France to kickstart a new art movement in the 1920s that recoiled against the industrial efficiency of the killing machines of France by turning its mechanistic forms into beauty; Art Deco.

[guerrap]

Fascinating read Chris.  This is where you set yourself apart.  It’s not only your knowledge of the the wings, manufacturers and methods used, airfields in relation to the various manufacturers, but it’s your additional knowledge of the influence of the arts to the styles of manufacture/designs that truly sets you apart!  Well done, as always!

[cwnorma]

Pete,

 

Thanks for the kind words!  Its hard to believe that its already mid September!  That means only 14 WWOWW left!

 

Chris

[guerrap]

Chris,

 

Here is my example.  Again, thanks for the great post this week.

[CliffP]

The Military Aviator badge below is also marked STERLING on the back of the wings and the star above the center shield. It was purchased in 1919 by Elliott White Springs after he had returned home from WWI.

 

 

[cwnorma]

Cliff,

😍

Wow!!!!  What an amazing piece of history.  Thank you for sharing!

 

Chris

[mghcal]

Chris,

 The effort you've put into your world war one weekly wing posts has really been amazing. I've suggested that the forum admin make a pinned thread with all of the weeks in one spot so we can more easily find them. My only suggestion if they do make a pinned thread would be to add the name of the wing discussed as you do so instead of the heading being "world war one weekly wing #38" it would instead be "world war one weekly wing #38 Paye and Baker. On the unknown wings simply put "world war one weekly wing #-- unknown". It would help with researching in the future instead of having to do a broad search with the forum search function. Thanks again for all your efforts.

[Bull Moose]

Recent addition to my WW1 wing badge collection.

[pfrost]

Cool beans.

 

There are some good lessons in these wings.

 

Recently (on this forum and thread), these wings were attributed to Paye and Baker.  Although not all wings are marked.  The fakes often show up with a Meyer and Wenthe hallmark. From HeWhoShallNotBeNamed in an old thread:

**********

The center shield is from a Meyer and Wenthe WWI wing which is one of the more reproduced wings around. You can tell by the "US" in the shield. That miss-shape US is from their wing. I have enclosed a picture of the Meyer & Wenthe wing, it's one of my reproductions. How can you tell a real M&W, look at the back and it the hallmark is in a circle of the words Meyer & Wenthe and also says Chicago its real, if only sterling is it a reproduction.

***********

Of course, anything that JoeVoldemort says should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

For example, in this thread you do see a fair number of JUST STERLING marked wings.  None of those are actually fake IMHO.

There is a really good thread about Paye and Baker vs Meyer Wenthe wings here:

 

There is one of these wings illustrated in Duncan's book (he describes is as having a "bow shape"

 

The US is diagnostic, in that it is kind of squiggly shaped and not especially symmetrical and balanced.  It always looks like a bit of a worm or snake to me.  The old adage that ALL WWI wings have HIGH quality "US is not true for these.

The other diagnostic that I see on these wings is that they all seem to have the Tiffany catch... I know Chris, they are called something else by the purists, but I am particularly slow witted tonight.

 

This one by Bull Moose is very nice. thanks for sharing.

 

[cwnorma]

On 6/28/2022 at 9:11 PM, pfrost said:

<snip>

That miss-shape US is from their wing.
<snip>

The US is diagnostic, in that it is kind of squiggly shaped and not especially symmetrical and balanced.  It always looks like a bit of a worm or snake to me.  The old adage that ALL WWI wings have HIGH quality "US is not true for these.

 

The US is truly one of the better diagnostic "tells" for this badge.  Examination of multiple badges side by side reveals the US to be as, consistent, finely made, and I might argue as "HIGH quality" as any comparable die struck WW1 wing.  As @pfrost points out, Paye and Baker's designers, interestingly, chose a particular "squiggly shaped" art nouveau font that is indeed evocative of a tendril, worm or snake.  All correct examples of this badge examined exhibit an identical US.

 

Fakes of this badge tend to have a US that only approximates the general shape of the correct, worm-font US.  The fake, does not bring to mind a naturalistic tendril, worm, nor snake.  Instead, the fake resembles an elongated bar bent to shape--with relatively straight sides and flat ends.

 

Now, you can't "un-see" it!

 

 

Chris

[rathbonemuseum.com]

More on P&B here: