Zachariah Brackett Stevens (1778–1856) is first known as a tinsmith in 1798, when he opened a shop in his native Stevens Plains, Maine. His success in markets as far away as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Canada attracted other tinsmiths to Maine from Berlin, Connecticut, the center of American tinmaking from the time the industry was pioneered by Edward Pattison about fifty years earlier. From about 1825 to 1830, Stevens's sons Alfred and Samuel headed the operation. Many of the designs were applied while the base coat was still wet, in a technique known as "wet in wet." The double cherry is considered a Zachariah Stevens hallmark; other typical motifs include fluffy white and yellow flowers with varied petal structures and cross-hatching, shells, and three-pronged leaves.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Trunk," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 317.