In 2015 when the Reed & Barton factory was being emptied, more than 20,000 design drawings and documents were transferred to the RISD Library where they were organized and cataloged. Over 1,600 were scanned and are now available on JSTOR. The documents include renderings to communicate what objects will look like, profile drawings to communicate how objects will be made, shop drawings to indicate tooling information, weight of parts, materials used, revision and approval history, and other manufacturing details. The earliest documents are blueprints made for the US Navy, 1897, the latest from 1986, with the majority from 1910 to 1950. Many (probably more popular) items were redrawn in 1930/1931 on heavier paper with more specific detail than the earlier versions of the same pieces.

Collection highlights include drawings for silver intended (but apparently not made) for the USS Houston, 1929, prototypes from Gio Ponti for his original design of what became the Diamond flatware pattern, 1954, designs by Eliel Saarinen, 1930, original drawings by Belle Kogan for the vegetable dish she designed in 1936, and hundreds of carved wood handle and spout models.

Link to website

Collections page

Scanned images on JSTOR

Finding aid for the collection

Eliel Saarinen 1930

RISD Special Collections has many Reed & Barton publications from their collection available on Jstor:

Reed and Barton Basic Ad-Maker

1931 Silver Plated and Pewter Holloware

Flatware: Second Division, 1912

Gifts In Sterling Silver, 1930

Pewter, 1932-1933

Signature V: A Collection of Fine Jewelry, 1977
Silverplated Holloware Catalog and Pewter 1960-1961

Silverplated Holloware Catalog and Pewterware, 1967

Silverware, the Autocrat of Every Table, 1926

Sterling Silver Knives, Forks and Spoons, 1910

The Classic American Silver, 1980

The Silver Lining, 1960

The Whitesmiths of Taunton: A History of Reed & Barton Silversmiths, 1943

assorted trade literature

Other links:

Oral history interview with Jack Prip, 1997

Coffee pot, c.1910

Trophy, no date