Vincent LaForme & Brother

Boston, 1850–1854

ActiveBoston, Massachusetts, United States

Biographyhttp://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0652.htm

Vincent Laforme (1823-1893) was the son and brother of several silversmiths. Antoni (also called Anthony or Antoine) and Clara Laforme and their children left Germany around 1832 and settled in Boston in 1833. The father may have trained his sons Vincent and Francis J. to follow in his footsteps. Antoni died in 1846. Vincent set up his own silversmith shop in 1844 at 5 Water Street in Boston; he also did gilding. In 1850, Vincent took his brother Francis as his partner and changed the name of their business to Laforme and Brother. In 1854, the brothers parted company, with Francis changing the business name to F.J. Laforme & Co., but this went out of operation in 1857. Vincent briefly tried his hand at farming, but later returned to silversmithing. He was reported to be a good craftsman but a poor manager and was unable to compete with the larger silver factories. He turned to gilding and plating as the mainstay of his business. Vincent died in Boston in 1893, but his son Elmer continued to manage the firm under the name V. Laforme Co.; it did gilding work until 1909, when the company was bought out by Hallet & Smith.

Person TypeCorporate Body