Plate, one of twelve

It is impossible to be certain if Mary Sumner had a hand in making or engraving this set of plates. They could have been already completed by her husband William Sumner, a registered plateworker, before he died. In any case, women in the Sumner family were very involved with the operations of the firm. Shortly after Mary registered her mark as a widow, she formally entered into partnership with her daughter, Elizabeth Sumner, one of the few women known to enter the trade formally before marriage.