Posts: 6
Registered: Jul 2002

posted 07-29-2002 03:34 PM            

---

These large 6 1/2" tongs are marked with what I believe is William Coffin Little's trademark.

Can this style tong be this early (1745-1816 Beldens)?

Is there a name for the handle design?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank You!!
Valerie

IP: Logged

Posts: 4121
Registered: Apr 99

posted 07-29-2002 06:38 PM            

---

There has been some confusion surrounding the Little's. It was posited in the 1950s that there were three makers by that name:
William Little (working 1725-1775), his son William Coffin Little (1745-1816), and his son William Coffin Little (1771-1836). All used a WL mark, and, to reconcile the seeming contradictions in dates and styles of examples, it was assumed that the various punches had been passed father to son. The existence of the first William Little was based on a single example, a sword hilt supposed to date c 1725. Since this was too early for the known William Coffin Little's, a silversmith father was invented. This was blustered by advertisements of the 1770s signed William Little and others signed William Coffin Little. This explanation was adopted by Belden's Marks of American Silversmiths and other references.

Unfortunately, there was no William Little. The record was laid right in Simple Elegance, published by the Historical Society of Old Newbury in 1998 and verified by my own research into the family line. William Coffin Little's parents were John Little, a Newburyport teamster, and Temperence Ripp. His paternal great grandmother was Lydia Coffin and paternal grandfather William Ripp, his name honouring them both. Where or with whom William Senior took his training is not known, but he worked in Newburyport until 1790, when he moved to Amesbury MA and continued working for another decade. He then retired to Salisbury NH and took up farming. From extent records, it appears that William Senior used his middle name indiscriminately until his son reached maturity, then used it consistently. William Junior presumably learned the trade from his father and probably did his early work in Newburyport, before moving to Philadelphia c 1813. His working dates are cut off in the standard references at 1819, but I have found nothing to substantiate this end. He would only have been 48 years old and lived for 17 more. I believe that he continued working, though perhaps not in Philadelphia, and is a likely candidate for the maker of your tongs.

IP: Logged

Posts: 4121
Registered: Apr 99

posted 07-29-2002 09:10 PM            

---

I rather like blustered for bolstered, so won't change it.

[This message has been edited by wev (edited 07-29-2002).]

IP: Logged

All times are ET