Nicholas Geffroy
Teaspoon

MakerAmerican, born France, c. 1761–1839
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Teaspoon
Datec. 1795–1817
Made inNewport, Rhode Island, United States
MediumSilver
Dimensions5 5/16 in. (13.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of David B. Smith
Object numberB.88.8
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

In 1801 Thomas Bruff of Chestertown, Maryland, received the first American patent for manufacturing spoons. His advertisements claimed that his machine “with one impression and one hand to work it, will turn out from a flat bar, a spoon in a minute, ready for the punch, with the heel and name impressed upon it.” John Adam, a contemporary, remarked that using Bruff’s invention, he could turn out twenty-five spoons in the time that it previously took to produce one. With improved production methods, American silver manufacturers, such as Nicholas Geffroy, began to supply flatware to a greater spectrum of consumers.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


ProvenanceDavid B. Smith, Pasadena, Texas; given to MFAH, 1988.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Engraved: AT
Mark of Nicholas Geffroy [Flynt and Fales 1968, p. 224, right]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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