Knickerbocker Silversmiths

To most matrons rummaging around in an antique shop. Early American silverware means the clean-lined creations of Paul Revere and other New England silversmiths. But the Early American sil ver wrought in old New York is equally attractive and--in ornamentation, curves and opulence--much richer.

The Museum of the City of New York, that orderly attic of Manhattan, is currently showing the work of 13 silversmiths of the colonial period. New York was full of wealthy merchants; as a contemporary historian pointed out in 1692: "This town is much richer than Boston. Its municipal currency consists of Spanish coin." But coin is cumbersome wealth; the merchants found it more practical to take the money to a reliable silversmith and have it melted down and fashioned into useful--and visible--objects.

Household silver became an index of financial status, and decorated with monograms and coats of arms, it became a highly personal way for a Dutch burgher to advertise his worth. When Colonel Abraham de Peyster died in 1728, he left behind 1,403 3/4 oz. of silver, all executed in ornate flatware and plate.

There being no official hallmarks as in England and Holland, silversmiths were of necessity men of integrity, and upon their honor alone depended the quality of the silver that they hammered and engraved. At the wish of their shoe-buckled patrons, the smiths were generous with the silver as well, turning out strong, heavy pieces (the New England silversmiths scrimped and made their ware thin at the top).

Among the show's well-polished highlights are the gleaming heirlooms loaned to the museum and shown on the opposite page. The tankard has a coin imbedded in its lid and is engraved with roses representing the arms of the Roosevelt family; made by Gerrit Onckelbag, it was possibly part of the dowry of Catharina Hardenbroeck, who married Jacobus Roosevelt in 1713. The fat little teapot is the work of Jesse Kip, and was probably made between 1720 and 1722 for the Douw family. The caudle cup, also the work of Onckelbag. is engraved with the stars-and-windmill arms of the Van Cortlandt family, was used for dispensing a mixture of wine or ale, eggs, gruel, sugar and spices to the sick and their visitors. Onckelbag's bowl with graceful curved handles is 12 in. wide and is ornamented with a floral design showing a strong Scandinavian influence; inside the base are the Twyford family arms. The porringer was made by Jurian Blanck Jr.. New York's first native-born silversmith. Also on display: --

sbA sucket fork, the work of Jesse Kip. It is a marvelously practical instrument, consisting of a fork at one end for spearing sweetmeats and a spoon at the other for taking up the heavy syrup.

sbA funeral spoon made by Cornelius Vander Burch in 1678, typical of the flatware that was doled out to the bereaved family's friends, a practice that must have assured well-attended funerals.

sbA peg tankard by Cornelius Kierstede with five pegs inside the body in line with the handle; as the tankard was passed around, each bibber drank to his peg but not a drop below.

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