Cape silver mustard spoon - John Townsend
Cape silver mustard spoon - John Townsend
Hi - Here a lovely mustard spoon (12.5cm) in the fiddle pattern with gilt washed bowl by Cape silversmith John Townsend. Not much is known of him besides her was trading as a silversmith from 1824 to 1841. This is mark 123 in Weltz, which has the same fouled punch on the maker's mark. - regards Frank
Re: Cape silver mustard spoon - John Townsend
Hi Frank
You seem to have picked up an enviable selection of flatware. I have the same Townsend pseudos on a small mug. Interestingly, Welz shows these punches as also being used by Thos Stephenson and Lodewyk Beck. Either the punches were passed from workshop to workshop or, as I think more likely, we have another exmple of a supplier to the trade. I'm tempted to think of Townsend as the culprit because the same cusped a occurs in other combinations of pseudos used by him - and because I would like our pieces to be from the maker rather than just the retailer!
You seem to have picked up an enviable selection of flatware. I have the same Townsend pseudos on a small mug. Interestingly, Welz shows these punches as also being used by Thos Stephenson and Lodewyk Beck. Either the punches were passed from workshop to workshop or, as I think more likely, we have another exmple of a supplier to the trade. I'm tempted to think of Townsend as the culprit because the same cusped a occurs in other combinations of pseudos used by him - and because I would like our pieces to be from the maker rather than just the retailer!
Re: Cape silver mustard spoon - John Townsend
Hi David
A great looking cup - thanks for posting.
I can't really shed that much light on John Townsend, but looking at Weltz, who only lists known addresses and years associated with Townsend, he may well have been more on the manufacturing side. He is only noted as being in the business for 17 years, and while we don't have a death date, that would seem relatively short. He also changed premises a number of times, sharing premises with Adams and Daniel until 1837 and when that partnership broke up with Peter Clarke Daniel until 1841. Weltz also doesn't say what the relationship is with Thomas Lock Townsend with whom he shared premises in 1824 and 1825, and entered the TT over JT mark (so presumably our pieces date after 1825). I'm assuming they were brothers.
But what is of interest is that in 1836 he is recorded as working from 1a St Johns St as a manufactory of plate and jewelry. All the other addresses mentioned are in quite a narrow area of the old city which must have formed something of a jewelers district - Long Street, Bergh Street, Hout Street - an area of Cape Town which today is still very much the centre of the antique, art, auction, design, jewelry part of the city (and night clubs and coffee shops). St John Street, while still very much in the middle of the modern city is somewhat further out to left of the company gardens and just below the modern suburb of Gardens - It may well have been on the outskirts of the town at that stage and been a proper manufacturing concern and he may have made a fair amount of silver which others retailed. Or maybe the retail side just didn't appeal to him, or wasn't financially viable. Or he shared premises with others just to keep his hand in but in reality was working from St Johns Street all along.
Pure speculation of course.
While the similarities in the marking style are there, the "a" in the marks of John Townsend is slightly different to those of Beck and Stephenson, but then Weltz will be noting actual marks on a limited selection of pieces of silver some 150 odd years later, and if the same punch was used repeatedly, it may have changed outline over time, as the punch wore out, or a replacement punch may have had a slightly different outline.
The other interesting thing is that the marks were obviously individually struck, on both our pieces the "lion passant" is shown at 90 degrees to the mark shown in Weltz.
Regards Frank
A great looking cup - thanks for posting.
I can't really shed that much light on John Townsend, but looking at Weltz, who only lists known addresses and years associated with Townsend, he may well have been more on the manufacturing side. He is only noted as being in the business for 17 years, and while we don't have a death date, that would seem relatively short. He also changed premises a number of times, sharing premises with Adams and Daniel until 1837 and when that partnership broke up with Peter Clarke Daniel until 1841. Weltz also doesn't say what the relationship is with Thomas Lock Townsend with whom he shared premises in 1824 and 1825, and entered the TT over JT mark (so presumably our pieces date after 1825). I'm assuming they were brothers.
But what is of interest is that in 1836 he is recorded as working from 1a St Johns St as a manufactory of plate and jewelry. All the other addresses mentioned are in quite a narrow area of the old city which must have formed something of a jewelers district - Long Street, Bergh Street, Hout Street - an area of Cape Town which today is still very much the centre of the antique, art, auction, design, jewelry part of the city (and night clubs and coffee shops). St John Street, while still very much in the middle of the modern city is somewhat further out to left of the company gardens and just below the modern suburb of Gardens - It may well have been on the outskirts of the town at that stage and been a proper manufacturing concern and he may have made a fair amount of silver which others retailed. Or maybe the retail side just didn't appeal to him, or wasn't financially viable. Or he shared premises with others just to keep his hand in but in reality was working from St Johns Street all along.
Pure speculation of course.
While the similarities in the marking style are there, the "a" in the marks of John Townsend is slightly different to those of Beck and Stephenson, but then Weltz will be noting actual marks on a limited selection of pieces of silver some 150 odd years later, and if the same punch was used repeatedly, it may have changed outline over time, as the punch wore out, or a replacement punch may have had a slightly different outline.
The other interesting thing is that the marks were obviously individually struck, on both our pieces the "lion passant" is shown at 90 degrees to the mark shown in Weltz.
Regards Frank
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