The Hammond-Harwood House is proud to announce a new exhibition opening in September, Silver in the Golden Age of Annapolis. The decade prior to the American Revolutionary War (1760s-1770s) is considered the “Golden Age of Annapolis” because the city was regarded as the “genteelest town in North America,” and was a distinguished center for commerce, cultural pursuits, social events, and Georgian architecture.
We are recognizing this description of our fair city with an exhibition of creations by our city’s silversmiths. Annapolis can claim at least 28 silversmiths actively working between 1720 and 1850, but evidence of their work is rare. Objects from only about 14 silversmiths are extant today. Included in this exhibition is silver by Samuel Soumaein, recognized for salvers, spoons, tankards, sauceboats and coffee pots; John Chalmers, known for his coins; William Faris and his son Charles who created canns, spoons, ladles, cream pots, watches, and other utilitarian pieces; Thomas Sparrow who worked for Annapolis printer Jonas Green, besides silversmithing; John Inch, probably best known for the Annapolis Trophy Bowl awarded at the horse races held here; William Whetcroft, silversmith and gunsmith, and other masters of silver. More than 80 objects-ladles, spoons, sugar nippers, bowls, canns, coffeepots, portraits, recipe books, coins, and other representative pieces–are generously on loan from the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Carlyle House, Historic Annapolis, Winterthur Museum, Library and Gardens, and private collections. This exhibition is the first dedicated to these silversmiths and their work in Annapolis
Lucinda Dukes Edinberg, Curator
Hours 12 – 5pm, Closed on Tuesdays
This exhibition is made possible through the collaborative efforts with the Hammond-Harwood
House, Maryland Center for History and Culture, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. We thank
them and the following lenders for their generosity in the loan of works from their collections:
Carlyle House
Vincent and Caroline Cerniglia
Stiles T. Colwill
Patrick Duggan
Anonymous
Adam Goodheart
Historic Annapolis, Inc.
Leigh Keno
Mark Beatson Letzer
Maryland State Archives
Charles Newhall
Paul Winicki
Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library
We also thank the following for exhibition and catalogue support:
Mark Beatson Letzer, Guest Curator
Stiles T. Colwill Interiors
Cynthia Merrifield, Merrifield Graphics and Publishing Service
John Dove, KRR Photography Limited
Maryland Paint and Design
Funding for the exhibition catalogue was generously provided by the
Marion Tuttle Colwill Charitable Trust
Additional funding and support was made possible by
Hammond-Harwood House Board of Trustees
Hammond-Harwood House Members and Volunteers
Maryland State Arts Council
Arts Council of Anne Arundel County
