George B. Sharp
Pair of Asparagus Tongs

MakerAmerican, born Ireland, 1819–1904
RetailerAmerican, active 1848–1878
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Pair of Asparagus Tongs
Datec. 1848–1850
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumSilver
DimensionsEach: 1 × 1 7/8 × 4 1/2 in. (2.5 × 4.8 × 11.4 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by William Robinson in honor of Mr. and Mrs. Fred T. Couper
Object numberB.90.10.1,.2
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Metals Study Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Utensils designed for serving asparagus were first produced in England during the 1760s; however, the date for the introduction of individual tongs is uncertain. In all probability their earliest production corresponds with the mid-nineteenth-century social dictate to resist handling food with the fingers. The Bayou Bend pair are among the earliest extant American asparagus tongs. Their brilliantly executed decoration, inspired by Neoclassical bright-cut engraving, produces an effect consistent with the colonial revival aesthetic.

Related examples: This pair originally comes from a set of six; another pair is illustrated in Venable 1994, p. 139, and the third pair is privately owned.

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.


Provenance[Phyllis Tucker Antiques, Houston]; purchased by MFAH, 1990.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Mark of Bailey & Co. [Belden 1980, p. 42]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Sterling silver and gilt
96.611
Asparagus Tongs
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Silver and silver gilding
B.2003.16
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c. 1862–1870
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Gold
2004.2371.1,.2
Handbag
William B. Kerr & Co., Newark, N.J.
c. 1890
Sterling silver, suede, and metal beads
95.558
Fire Tongs or Pipe Tongs
18th century
Iron
B.71.128
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19th century
Gold
2004.2374.1,.2