Images(2)

Tablespoon

Dateca. 1760-1770

Maker Philip Syng, Jr. (1703-1789)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumSilver

DimensionsOverall Length: 8 1/8”; Width of Bowl; 1 5/8"; Depth of Bowl: 7/16"

Credit LineGift of Kay Justice Ridinger in memory and honor of Charles W. Ridinger III

Object number2021-74

DescriptionSilver tablespoon with an upturned Hanoverian pattern handle, a long midrib, and an oval bowl with a drop topped by an eleven-lobed shell.
Label TextPhilip Syng Jr., was born in 1703 in Ireland and apprenticed to his father. While both moved to Annapolis, Maryland in 1724, Philip the younger spent the next year in London. Upon his return to the colonies in 1726, the younger Syng set up shop on South Front St. in Philadelphia, and began his ascent within the city's silversmithing trade. Philip Syng Jr. is known for having made, in 1752, the inkstand used by the signers of the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776. Though he officially retired to the countryside in 1772, Syng returned to work in the mid-1780s and died in Philadelphia in 1789.
InscribedEngraved “E/DB” in block letters on the back of the handle end.
MarkingsMarked twice with “PS” in relief within a rectangle on the back of the stem.