posted 05-10-2004 11:06 PM            

The pictures show tongs of the pierced style with a solid top that extends to the open work and cast grips on the opposite end of the open work. The hearts and the engraved doves provide a folk art feeling to the work that is very charming. The solid top is long enough to provide spring and the central portion is delicate and appears to have been cut rather than cast. From the limited number of cutout or pierced style tongs that I have seen it would appear that most have central portions that are cast.

These tongs are marked SW. Any ideas on the silversmith would be appreciated as I have never been able to attribute this mark to a silversmith.

posted 05-12-2004 02:15 PM            

I added some pictures of the engraved dove as it bears a resemblance to an engraving on the gold clasp shown on page 432 (Number 448) American Silver at Winterthur, by Ian M.G. Quimby. That clasp is indicated as ca. 1790. Silversmiths in that general time period with the initials SW were Samuel Warner, Philadelphia c1797 and Baltimore 1810, Samuel Waters Boston c 1803, Simon Wedge, Baltimore c1798, Silas White, NY 1791 and Samuel Williamson, Philadelphia, 1794. The only mark I have found that is at all similar is that shown by Robert Alan Green for Samuel Water, however even that one has doubt as his rendition is not a photograph. I am assuming that it is American and I agree with you Maurice that it is attractive.

I also added some pictures showing sugar tongs with a Basket of Flowers design that appears identical to one shown in Ms Goldsborough's book on Maryland Silver in the Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art at page 151, cat. No.180. The baskets have a distinctive feature of five vertical lines overlaid on many horizontal lines. These tongs have the mark of William Huntington while the Maryland tongs have the mark of Robert and Andrew Campbell.

In John R. McGrew's article entitled Basket of Flowers, in the March April 1989 issue of Silver, all of the baskets have cross hatching in the body of the basket. His article provides a wonderful review of flowers portion, but does not mention differences in the basket portion. I have followed pictures on the internet of the basket of flowers design and have yet to see one like the Campbell or Huntington design. The Huntington piece is also unusual as it has two baskets on each leg that are slightly different in size. Any information on this basket would be appreciated.

posted 05-12-2004 07:47 PM            

I have been slow to respond on these cast tongs because I really don't know what to make of them, except to wish they were mine!

The dove and olive branch are symbolic of the events surrounding the end of the biblical flood, and are almost universal in the Western world, so it does not necessarily imply an American origin. If indeed they are American, as we would hope they would be, they most likely would be of Southeastern Pennsylvania origin. The symbol appears most frequently on spoon backs in that area (but also elsewhere - on English picturebacks, for example). The use of doves, hearts and other symbols also appear commonly in Pennsylvania Dutch decorative themes, but these have been traced to European origin (German, Swiss, etc.) I cannot escape the feeling that these might be of continental origin, perhaps Scandinavian (the zig-zag border at the top of the pierced arms may be a significant clue in this regard), otherwise one would think there would be others like them around.

posted 05-12-2004 09:44 PM            

A Scandinavian origin may be something to look into. Thank you very much for the help.

I would add that considering the short top portion they actually have a fair amount of spring when I squeeze them.

On the basket tongs I miscounted and there are actually seven vertical lined not five. The construction of the basket may be a clue as that basket is not like any my wife collects.

posted 05-12-2004 10:13 PM            

Here is a picture of the monogram. The first letter is a T and the last is an M. Not sure about the middle initial and it does have nice feathering. If feathering is what the extra little lines are called.

posted 05-13-2004 05:36 PM            

I agree with Swarter, I would have loved to have found these myself! Just wonderful!

posted 05-14-2004 12:05 AM            

Was it customary for the retailer to stamp on his own name or would Huntington have had that done by the manufacturer? I have only seen a limited number of items marked W. Huntington with the eagle, but I have never seen one that has W. Huntington without the eagle. Perhaps the manufacturer also put on the rest of the mark.

Also, I have seen some pieces where retailer's name is spelled differently and have wondered if the manufacturer put on the name of the retailer and just did not get it right.
I think you are right in that there are differences in the basket of flowers of Campbell and Huntington although the baskets of both do seem the have the upright members without any obvious cross hatching. I have been looking for that feature for a long time and just have not found it.

posted 05-14-2004 01:15 PM            

I should also add that the absence of a trademark - or a second unassociated name - on a piece does not guarantee that it was made by the one whose mark appears alone, as all suppliers did not mark their wares provided for resale by others. It is well documented by surviving day-books of earlier silversmiths that it was not uncommon for them to contract for silver to be made for them by others whose marks never appear on ony known examples marked by the smith who resold them. Two better known examples: (1)Joseph Richardson imported extensively from England, and either resold hallmarked pieces without his mark or received export pieces not hallmarked but marked only by himself. Some may have even been sold unmarked, as he is known to have complained to at least one of his suppliers of receiving a shipment of inferior quality. (2) Although owners or sellers of Revere silver do not like to hear it, not everything bearing Paul Revere's mark was necessarily made by his own hand, nor even a product of his own shop, as he is known to have obtained items from one or more neighboring silversmiths otherwise well known in their own right, but whose marks have not been found to apear beside his.

In addition any number of teasets are known which have matching items marked by unassociated silversmiths, or with one or more pieces unmarked. It is often assumed that these pieces were separately obtained, but unless the working dates of the makers fail to overlap, they cannot be assumed to have been provided to the purchaser by more than one of the makers involved. In other words, the seller of a set may have made the teapot, but contracted out the sugar bowl and cream pot.

Both buyers and sellers of American silver need to understand that there are few guarantees that canbe made in this regard (or even in many attributions of marks). Unfortunately, some people cannot abide this uncertainty, but that is just the way things are. I know one well respected dealer who has had some very nice holloware in the past, but who will no longer deal in Anmerican silver, because so msny buyers demand guarantees that he cannot give. For me, it is these challenges that make this field of study so interesting and attractive.

posted 05-17-2004 10:43 AM            

Your comment about the number of eagle punch marks is really accurate. I visited a couple of antique stores Friday and found a tablespoon marked R & A Campbell (mark b in Maryland Silver page 151) combined with the same eagle that is on the Huntington piece. The Campbell tablespoon is also marked 10 15. The spoon is a fiddle, reverse tipped with a round drop and pointed shoulders. This would seem to confirm that the Campbell brothers brought silver from the same source as Huntington and it may be that the basket of flowers spoon was also brought from the same manufacturer. Of course it could be that the firm with the eagle trademark made blank objects and some second source created the final product.

With regard to whether or not a piece can be guaranteed as American, or for that matter any other country or silversmith, I agree with you. However, people buy silver or other decorative art objects for different reasons and collecting signature objects is very important too many people. I actually heard a lecturer on silver state that unmarked silver meant that the silversmith was not proud of his work and one should avoid it. That just is not right and leads one away from looking for the beauty first and realizing that everything else can be interesting and maybe even important in determining the value of the object, but does not actually affect the inherent beauty of the object. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.

posted 02-20-2005 01:58 AM            

The other updates are some more cutout or pierced tongs. The one already posted and marked SW may not be American at all, but rather the work of Stephen Walsh from Cork, Ireland. I do not have any reference book for Cork except Jackson’s and he does not actually have photographs so making an attribution is difficult. Are there any books that show actual photographs of Irish silversmiths’ marks?

One of the new tongs I am posting is marked PS and I would hope it is Philip Syng, Jr., but with my track record of reading marks I am hesitant to really say. Belden show several marks attributed to him and none look to me to be exactly right. These tongs are marked right at the bend of the two legs rather than on one on the legs. The curve may make the impression look different so I took two pictures from opposite sides. The engraving, R C, is attractive and a little leaf like design separates the two letters.

posted 07-11-2007 04:51 PM            

Cast Sugar Tongs [castsugartongs.co.uk - link gone from the Internet] is an interesting web site showing quite of number of tongs from the 18th century and providing an informative history of this form.

posted 07-12-2007 11:43 AM            

Two newer books include photographs of marks: Beth Carver Wees, English Irish & Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (1997), an excellent, huge volume that may still be available online at a dramatic discount; and John R. Bowen and Conor O'Brien, Cork Silver and Gold: Four Centuries of Craftsmanship (2005), an equally excellent catalogue of an exhibition. The latter gives a mark for Stephen Walsh (an SW mark along with a full name WALSH mark), but the S looks different from the one here, being rather open at top and bottom.

posted 07-12-2007 11:54 AM            

quote:

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Beth Carver Wees, English Irish & Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (1997), an excellent, huge volume that may still be available online at a dramatic discount

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