Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
6487-86 |
Object Name |
Badge, Law Enforcement |
Collection |
HISTORY |
Year Range from |
1889 |
Year Range to |
1890 |
Description |
Rolled gold plate; glass (possibly garnet top/glass base) stone; factory/machine made. 5 point star, gold leaves/flowers applied to points within raised & incised border, each point terminates in a ball. Central disk riveted to star, black enamel lettering: "CHIEF POLICE OSHKOSH". Multi-faceted red central stone. Back engraved: "MANY FRIENDS / TO / R. J. WEISBROD / Apr 18 1890". No maker's marks. See photograph of Chief Weisbrod wearing this badge(?) in Neg 21650, box subject 163.1 in archives. 01/05/2001: Materials and techniques identified by Bill Thimke, Thimke Jewellers, Oshkosh: rolled gold plate is produced by placing 2 thin sheets of gold on either side of brass(?), copper or lead object and manually rolling thereby bonding the metals together, this was a common practice for the time, layers of gold were thicker than today's gold plating; stone is probably glass (facets on back appear to be molded), possibly garnet top and glass base, does not look like a synthetic ruby; not made by local jeweler because one wouldn't have the machinery for rolled gold; possibly made by a manufacturer in Chicago; not a custom-order beyond the enameled lettering on front; inscription may have been done at the factory or by a local jeweler/inscriber. |
Material |
Metal/Glass |
People |
Weisbrod, Rudolph Joseph |
Search Terms |
Oshkosh Police Department |
Used |
Weisbrod, Rudolph Joseph/Chief of Police/Oshkosh, WI |
Width (in) |
2.750 |