Conlonial Silversmithing

working silversmiths bench, Colonial Willimasburg

This past weekend we were in Colonial Williamsburg for Art on the Square.  I got the dates of the show mixed up and ended up booking a non-refundable hotel room for an extra night, so we ended up tacking on a mini-vaction which allowed us to spend some time exploring The Revolutionary City.  In addition to historic buildings and reenactments there are tons of artisans working with colonial tools and materials to visit.  Obviously I didn't want to miss the silversmith.  I was most blown away by how little the tools have changed in the last 250 years.  With the exception of the pewter cup, the jewelers bench looked much the same as mine does.  And, as I was pleased to discover, equally messy.  The main difference between colonial era and modern silversmithing lies in the soldering process, which was either done in a furnace or with a lung powered blow pipe as opposed to a gas powered torch.  While they were not demonstrating that technique at the time the jeweler was nice enough to show me the pipe and lamp and to explain the technique to me.  I have a whole new appreciation for my beloved torch!

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Indian silversmiths c.1873- photo via The British Library

Williamsburg Vignettes