Artists

Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers

Edited by Patricia E. Kane
Based on the notes of Francis Hill Bigelow and John Marshall Phillips
With contributions by Kane, Jeannine J. Falino, Deborah A. Federhen, Barbara McLean Ward, and Gerald W. R. Ward, with the assistance of Karen L. Wight and Edgard Moreno

[A] masterful accomplishment … and a source book that will well serve the next generations of gold, silver, and jewelry historians. —New York Silver Society Newsletter

Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers presents biographies of 296 silversmiths and jewelers who worked in Massachusetts before the American Revolution, along with 93 craftsmen in allied trades, including watchmakers, clockmakers, and engravers. Patricia E. Kane’s preface to this comprehensive reference volume chronicles the 92 years of research and scholarship that went into the book, while her essay focuses on the creative ferment in Boston. Barbara McLean Ward’s essay describes the tools of the trade. Gerald W. R. Ward discusses the differences between metropolitan and rural silversmiths. The volume also includes several appendices, such as a glossary of tools and techniques, over 400 illustrated marks, and biographies of misidentified Massachusetts silversmiths.

1,244 pages / 8 x 11 inches / 613 black-and-white illustrations / Distributed by the University Press of New England / 1998
  • Hardcover ISBN 978-0-89467-077-0
    Price $100; Members $80