Six Coin Silver Teaspoons

Description:

Six Coin Silver Teaspoons, Peter Bentzon, St. Croix, West Indies, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early 19th century, with "Fiddle" pattern handles and pointed bowls, the back of each handle marked in a sunken cartouche "P. BENTZON," and with engraved monogram "MC" on the front, (few minor dings in the bowls),lg. 5 1/2 in.

Note: Peter Bentzon (c. 1783- after 1850) is thought to be the first African American silversmith to be identified by his own mark. At the age of eight, he was sent from the West Indies to Philadelphia to be educated and served an apprenticeship to a silversmith from 1799 to 1806. After completing his apprenticeship, Bentzon returned to Christianstead, St. Croix, where he set up business as a silversmith. In 1816 he moved back to Philadelphia where he continued his trade until returning to St. Croix again in 1829. For the next nineteen years Bentzon resided on the island until finally relocating to Philadelphia for the last time in 1848. For additional information on Bentzon see "A 'mustice' silversmith in Philadelphia and St. Croix, 1783-1850," essay by Rachel E.C. Layton in Colonialism and the Object: Empire, Material Culture and the Museum, (New York: Routledge, 1998).
Estimate $400-600


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