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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 American Silver before sterling
 Tongs with unusual bright cut design
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| Author | Topic: Tongs with unusual bright cut design |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 05-15-2010 12:58 PM
  
This is a pair of tongs by Stockman & Pepper (great name btw) of Phillly, worked together 1828-31, which makes them easy to date. The design looks like sunflowers, but in any case I've never seen a design like this on tongs. Is it a Philly thing? Also, they seem a little large for sugar tongs, being 6.25" long with a gap at the open end of 1.5" with the spoons measuring 1 1/8" wide (they're oval shaped). Might they have been used for something else, even considering rough cut sugar was probably larger? IP: Logged |
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Brent Posts: 1507 |
posted 05-15-2010 03:57 PM
Nice tongs, but not that unusual. I have seen a number of Philadelphia tongs of the 1830s with similar engraved or chased decoration, and they tend to be enormous. If you look at Phildelphia sugar bowls of the same period, they might be useful as a soup tureen. Anyway, the decoration and the size of the tongs do seem to be a Philadelphia thing. I can't recall seeing comparables from other regions. Brent IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 05-15-2010 08:07 PM
thanks Brent, interesting information. I wonder if Philadelphia's relative prosperity had anything to do with size. IP: Logged |
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wev Moderator Posts: 4121 |
posted 05-15-2010 08:38 PM
In an 1832 invoice of goods sold, Thomas Charles Fletcher of Philadelphia listed a dozen shell and thread tablespoons at 38.10 oz. silver, $12 to the making. The next year, James P. Steele in New York quoted Wheeler & Brooks an equivalent dozen at 24 oz. and $5.25. Both firms were charging silver at $1.25 the ounce. IP: Logged |
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argentum1 Posts: 602 |
posted 05-16-2010 01:51 PM
This decoration on tongs shows up on the west coast online auction site every now and then. This could be the fore runner of the Victorian 'the bigger and the more gaudy the better'. IP: Logged |
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vathek Posts: 966 |
posted 05-16-2010 03:36 PM
Speaking of which Argentum1 I notice on that site that tongs are so numerous they are a buyers market. Wish I had more interest in collecting them. IP: Logged |
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ahwt Posts: 2334 |
posted 05-16-2010 07:22 PM
For those interested in tea or sugar tongs, Dr. David Shlosberg’s book entitled “Eighteenth Century Silver Tea Tongs” and Graham Hodges’ “Georgian Silver Sugar Tongs” are two good books that I recently brought and have absolutely enjoyed. As Vathek noted tongs are plentiful; which makes it good for the individual interested in them. IP: Logged |
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ellabee Posts: 306 |
posted 05-21-2010 05:08 AM
Tongs, in addition to being affordable, are also eminently usable. The biggie-sized Philadelphia types can handle ice, something for which tongs are still the implement of choice. Smaller ones are handy for olives and hors d'oeuvres. IP: Logged |
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