Crichton s first known major work is an 1878 pair of parcel gilt shields based on Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night's Dream , and inspired by the two paintings by Sir Joseph Noel Paton, The Quarrel and The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania . The shields embody high standards of casting, embossing and chasing, the same craftsmanship which won Crichton a prize of ?5 awarded by the Goldsmiths Company at the " Society of Arts Exhibition " in 1870 for his repousse cup.
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In the 1880s the firm stocked " all the materials used by painters, engravers, etchers, repousse-workers, china-painters, crayon artists, water colorists, tapestry-painters, architects, engineers, and draughtsmen . " They also carried " fancy articles for decorating, in bronze and brass, porcelain and china, Albenine and Barbotine ware, bisque vases and terraline ware, tambourines of sheepskin, calfskin, brass, and satin . " " Five-sixths of the trade is wholesale, extending throughout New England, the Middle and Western States, and Canada, and kept in activity by travelling salesmen ."
