Henry Will c.1774 (New York)

[Aguest]

[Aguest]

[Aguest]

:::::: There's a picture of a hallmark by Henry Will (c.1774) which is archived on this very website but it seems different from this hallmark. :::::::
::::::::: This could be an alternate hallmark made by Henry Will & I get the impression that this spoon is circa 1760 based on the drop. ::::::::::::::
::::::::::::: There are references to Henry Will being trained by his father John Will so maybe this was made by a young Henry Will. ::::::::::::::::::
::::::::: The details on this hallmark are unbelievably tiny & precise I just have a feeling it is a very early piece made by Henry Will. ::::::::
::::::::: Winterthur has some papers by Henry Will & there are references to the Wills in "Albany Institute of History & Art: 200 Years of Collecting". :::::
:::::::::: I've never seen a single piece of either Wills' silver objects & the only internet archived picture of a hallmark is on this very website ::::::

[Aguest]

::::: John Wills & Henry Wills apologies for the missing S. :::::::

[wev]

Pictures of full spoon, both sides, please

[Aguest]

:::: There is no monogram & I will get better pics ASAP & I've seen a pewter hallmark from Henry Wills that looks more similar to this spoon's hallmark rather than the hallmark posted on this very website but perhaps my hallmark is the early work of Henry Wills when he worked in New York City before the Revolutionary War disrupted his metalworking business and he moved to Albany, that makes sense in my mind at least. ::::::

:::: There is a book published "Henry Will Account Book: A Record of His Pewtering and Related Activities in New York City and Albany from 1763 to 1800" which implies that he was doing activities related to Pewter which had to have included Silversmithing? :::::

[Traintime]

Thorn's Silver & Pewter (1949):

[Aguest]

:::: Given the many different hallmarks found on pewter it is understandable that the 2 silver hallmarks are both different as well, but it is unusual that I can't find a single silver object by Henry Wills anywhere, no books, no museums. ::::: I don't even know where the [HW] hallmark on this very website comes from, does anybody remember seeing the piece of silver upon which it is stamped? ::::

[Traintime]

Some on him as pewterer (exhibition related material): https://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/alba ... l1497.html

If Thorn was right, no mark was readily available as of 1949, but someone found a reference before that pinning the name to silver. Perhaps within Henry Wills' "Accounts" book? And Thorn does not mention John in relation to silver work at all.

[Aguest]

::::: The "Accounts" book may have a reference to silversmithing & it should be checked. ::::::
::::: I figured the "Henry Wills" hallmark on this very website came from wev but that was just an assumption given his research in this field. :::::

[Aguest]

:::: Let's say we find no evidence for Henry Wills actually selling silver objects. I'm not saying we have that evidence yet, it's very possible that we will find evidence of Henry Wills actually selling silver objects in the "Accounts" book, but as a thought experiment let's just say that we don't find any evidence. The bowl of this spoon shows spectacular evidence of baby teething. In fact, one of the reasons I was so hesitant to show the bowl is because it is so heavily damaged from baby teething. This spoon has the highest amount of baby teething I have ever seen. So at some point in the early 1760s, following his marriage in 1761 to Magdaline Haan at the Reformed Church in NYC, Henry Wills became the father of two daughters. Henry Wills' daughters were christened at the Albany Church in 1776 and 1778 after the family moved to Albany (other silversmiths also fled New York City to escape the dangers of the Revolutionary War including Myer Myers). We don't have birth records for the two daughters but we can know without a doubt that there were two teething babies in Henry Wills household in the 1760s. :::::

::::: It's possible that this spoon was made by Henry Wills for his personal use and it soon became the baby spoon for Henry Wills' two daughters. ::::