Teapot
- Artist
- Peter Bentzon, American (born Saint Thomas), c.1783–after 1850
- Date
- c.1817
- Material
- Silver and wood
- Classification
- Metalwork
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 137
- Dimensions
- 7 1/4 × 11 1/2 × 4 3/4 in. (18.4 × 29.2 × 12.1 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum Minority Artists Purchase Fund, and funds given by The Equal Sweetener Foundation and the Paul and Elissa Cahn Foundation
- Rights
- Contact Us
- Object Number
- 41:2001
NOTES
Simple in shape and restrained in ornament, this beautifully crafted and well-proportioned teapot reveals the skills of its maker, Peter Bentzon. Bentzon is the only early American silversmith of African ancestry whose silver has been identified. The teapot’s oval-shaped body is balanced on either side by a C-shaped handle and an S-shaped spout. The only ornamentation is an acorn finial and fine engraving. This simplicity reflects an interest in geometric shapes like circles, ovals, and ellipses, echoing the architecture and furniture popular in America from the 1780s to the 1820s.
In 1791, Bentzon arrived in Philadelphia, where he was educated and later apprenticed to learn the silversmith’s trade. He established a business in Christiansted, Saint Croix, in 1807 but traveled frequently back to the United States. He made this teapot, one of two, for members of the Coates and Dawson family, who were Quakers active in the abolitionist movement in Philadelphia.
Provenance
c.1817
Rebecca Dawson (c.1770–1855), Philadelphia, PA, USA, commissioned from Peter Bentzon [1]
c.1817 -
Mary Coates, received as gift from Rebecca Dawson, and family, by inheritance [2]
- 2001
Private Collection [3]
2001
Argentum-The Leopard's Head (Michael Weller), San Francisco, CA, purchased at auction at Robert S. Brunk Auction Services, Inc., Asheville, NC, February 24, 2001, lot no. 0539
2001 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Argentum-The Leopard's Head [4]
Notes:
The primary source of provenance information is an email from Rachel Layton Elwes, Benzton scholar, to Museum assistant curator, David Conradsen, dated October 21, 2001, and an extensive family tree sketch by David Conradsen, based on Elwes' and Conradsen's joint research [SLAM document files]. Exceptions and other supporting documentation are noted.
[1] Rebecca Dawson, a member of a wealthy and prominent Philadelphia Quaker family commissioned Peter Bentzon to make a tea service, including a pair of identical teapots, of which 41:2001 is one. It is believed that the service was intended as a gift to one of Dawson's female relatives with the initials "MC."
[2] Research has determined that there are several possible recipients among Dawson's female cousins in the Coates and Morrison lines, including two with the name Mary Coates [Rachel Layton Elwes, "A new addition to African American silver," in "The Silver Society Journal" (Autumn 2001) 14-17]. The provenance of the second teapot (in a private collection) provides circumstantial evidence for the descent of 41:2001 through the Coates and Morrison families [see Note].
[3] The most recent private owner of 41:2001 consigned the teapot through Robert S. Brunk Auction Services [Brunk Auctions, accessed February 11, 2004,; fax from Sarah Urquhart, of Robert S. Brunk Auction Services, November 27, 2001; copies in SLAM document files].
[4] Invoice dated April 19, 2001 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, May 24, 2001.
Rebecca Dawson (c.1770–1855), Philadelphia, PA, USA, commissioned from Peter Bentzon [1]
c.1817 -
Mary Coates, received as gift from Rebecca Dawson, and family, by inheritance [2]
- 2001
Private Collection [3]
2001
Argentum-The Leopard's Head (Michael Weller), San Francisco, CA, purchased at auction at Robert S. Brunk Auction Services, Inc., Asheville, NC, February 24, 2001, lot no. 0539
2001 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Argentum-The Leopard's Head [4]
Notes:
The primary source of provenance information is an email from Rachel Layton Elwes, Benzton scholar, to Museum assistant curator, David Conradsen, dated October 21, 2001, and an extensive family tree sketch by David Conradsen, based on Elwes' and Conradsen's joint research [SLAM document files]. Exceptions and other supporting documentation are noted.
[1] Rebecca Dawson, a member of a wealthy and prominent Philadelphia Quaker family commissioned Peter Bentzon to make a tea service, including a pair of identical teapots, of which 41:2001 is one. It is believed that the service was intended as a gift to one of Dawson's female relatives with the initials "MC."
[2] Research has determined that there are several possible recipients among Dawson's female cousins in the Coates and Morrison lines, including two with the name Mary Coates [Rachel Layton Elwes, "A new addition to African American silver," in "The Silver Society Journal" (Autumn 2001) 14-17]. The provenance of the second teapot (in a private collection) provides circumstantial evidence for the descent of 41:2001 through the Coates and Morrison families [see Note].
[3] The most recent private owner of 41:2001 consigned the teapot through Robert S. Brunk Auction Services [Brunk Auctions, accessed February 11, 2004,
[4] Invoice dated April 19, 2001 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, May 24, 2001.
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