Pair of Teaspoons
Date1815-1830
Marked by
Peter Bentzon
(ca. 1783 - after 1850)
MediumSilver
DimensionsOL: 5 1/2"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Hugh Trumbull Adams Fund
Object number2017-2,2
DescriptionDownturned fiddle handle tapers to pointed shoulders above pointed oval bowl with shallow incised oval drop on backLabel TextA free man of color, Peter Bentzon was born about 1783 in the Danish West Indies (now the United States Virgin Islands) to a mother of African and European descent and a Norwegian father. Trained as a silversmith in Philadelphia, he worked both in that city and in St. Croix, moving several times between these locations prior to his death sometime after 1850. Less than three dozen objects are known today bearing his touchmarks.
InscribedEngraved "MD" in sprigged script across face of handle.
MarkingsMarked on back of handle in relief "P. BENTZON" in a rectangle
1815-1830
1826-1827
1806-1814 or 1818-1821 (probably)
ca.1814-1818
ca. 1820-1850
ca. 1825
ca. 1815
ca. 1840
ca. 1810
ca. 1820
1837-1860
1814-1845