The Silversmith in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg: An Account of His Life & Times, & of His CraftFord, Thomas K.
History
The Silversmith in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg: An Account of His Life & Times, & of His Craft
Ford, Thomas K.
Silverwork, Colonial -- Virginia
Whether he did open a business as intended is not known, but a few years
later he was a jeweler and engraver—and perhaps a partner—in the shop of
James Geddy, Jr. Since Geddy married Elizabeth Waddill and named one of
his sons William Waddill Geddy, the two men were presumably
brothers-in-law. Waddill followed Geddy by a few years in leaving
Williamsburg to find greener pastures in the growing cities of Richmond
and Petersburg.
_SURVIVING WORK OF WILLIAMSBURG SILVERSMITHS_
William Waddill’s known work illustrates how very slight is the amount
of surviving silver that can be ascribed with any certainty to
Williamsburg smiths. He engraved plates for the printing of paper
currency in Virginia, and he made a silver nameplate and handles for the
coffin of Governor Botetourt, whose remains lie buried beneath the
chapel floor at the College of William and Mary. The coffin plate,
purloined by Union soldiers during the Civil War, has since been
returned to the college, which has loaned it to Colonial Williamsburg
for display at the restored house and shop of James Geddy.
Also on display there are several articles of silver that can now be
attributed to the hand of Geddy himself. One is a small saucepan or
pot-like cup, with a straight silver handle added at a later time; the
others are spoons. The saucepan and three of the spoons bear the “I·G”
maker’s mark of James Geddy, Jr., the “I” being the eighteenth-century
equivalent of “J,” at least in certain situations.
The saucepan is believed to have once been the property of Colonel
William Preston, a burgess from Augusta County for a time before the
Revolution. Preston is known to have purchased other articles from
Geddy, and this particular piece of hollowware has come down through his
descendants. One of the teaspoons marked “I·G” was found as long ago as
1930 at the site of the Palace kitchen, but its attribution to Geddy
remained uncertain for nearly forty years. Then, in 1968, five more
silver spoons were unearthed in the yard behind Geddy’s house, two of
them having the identical maker’s mark. Another of the excavated group,
a tablespoon, lacks any mark to show the maker, but does have the
initials I^GE engraved on the handle, almost certainly those of James
Geddy and his wife Elizabeth.
The teaspoon found at the Palace site is also engraved on the handle in
the same fashion but with the initials C^AA. Christopher Ayscough was
gardener at the Palace in the time of Governor Fauquier; his wife, Anne,
was the governor’s housekeeper. Fauquier thought so highly of Mrs.
Ayscough’s stewardship that he bequeathed her £250 sterling, a very
generous sum. Possibly the silver teaspoon found beneath the brick floor
of Anne Ayscough’s kitchen was also a gift from the governor to her and
her husband. How it got under the floor can only be guessed at.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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