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Home > Museum Shop > Books & Media > Virginia Silversmith, Their Lives and Marks
  Virginia Silversmiths, Jewelers, Clock– and Watchmakers, 1607–1860, Their Lives and Marks
By Catherine B. Hollan
Price: $100.00
Silversmiths in Virginia operated many small shops and networked throughout the commonwealth. Often several competed in a town. They worked in all the branches of the trade, as gold– and silversmiths, jewelers, engravers, clock– and watchmakers, survey instrument makers, and as optometrists and dentists, which developed into separate professions in the nineteenth century.
From the second supply ship in 1607 to 1860 with the onset of the Civil War, silversmithing was a viable trade for making a living, practiced by fathers and sons, by multiple brothers in different towns, and by some three– and four–generation families.
Virginia silversmiths marked silver with their names and initials plus a variety of unique symbols, e.g. Ebenezer Thomas' Quaker lady, Thomas McCarty's eagle head and tail, several heraldic eagles in shaped reserve, and a group of ten spectacular circular heraldic eagles from the early Federal period.
Containing 1,798 biographies of Virginia artisans plus references outside of Virginia, and over 930 photographs of marks used by 324 Virginia silversmiths, this book is a must for collectors, curators, decorative arts historians, and genealogists.
1092 pages, hardcover, ISBN 978-0-9831068-0-7, Hollan Press, 2010.
What's related:
• Learn more about the Silver in Virginia exhibit at the VHS
• Browse other items related to the history of Silver in Virginia
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428 North Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23220 | Mail: P.O. Box 7311, Richmond, VA 23221-0311 | Phone: 804.358.4901
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