Craft Along the Coast Galleries
Mar-28-2025 – ongoing
Craft typically refers to any activity of making objects in which one uses their hands. Because many historic building techniques involve construction by hand, this broad definition includes architecture. As with most communities, craftsmanship has been vital for people living along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts, from making necessary items for everyday use to finding unique forms of artistic self-expression. Some forms of craft are decidedly commercial, designed to be as appealing and sellable to customers as possible. Others represent communities of makers working alongside one another or collaborating on single projects. One of the most important aspects of craft is that it tends to be inclusive – people of all cultures, races, and genders have created significant works with their hands, using whatever resources have been available to them.
These two galleries highlight works of craft from the 18th to the 20th centuries from Telfair’s permanent collection that tell stories about Savannah and its surrounding areas’
history and culture. They allow us a glimpse of the creativity and ingenuity of people whose lives often are not documented in the markers and monuments that dot this landscape, many whose identities may never be known.
Significantly, Telfair’s collection currently does not include any work by the historic and traditional stewards of this region’s lands, which include the Guale, Mocama, Muscogee (Creek), Timucuan, Yamacraw, Yamasee, and Yuchi people. We respect these craft traditions and hope to represent them in these galleries in the future.
While materials like wood, sea grass, and clay often point to this region’s physical environment and the communities who have become rooted within it, silver tells stories about movement. Silver had to be brought to the region from elsewhere, either by melting old wares or importing the metal from Mexico or South America. Like their medium, silversmiths historically came to Savannah from other locations, typically New England states. They maintained family and business connections to regularly import silver objects for sale locally, appealing to the tastes of middle-class and upper-class consumers who had the wealth to buy their wares. With some firms, it is impossible to discern whether a particular work was made in Savannah or simply marked here.
Silversmithing, jewelry making, and clockmaking overlapped, and these craftspeople often were entrepreneurs who sold many other types of objects in their shops. They mostly were white men, but some had wives who continued operating their firms after their deaths. Importantly, most are known to have enslaved people of African descent, some of whom may have been forced to perform tasks. One free person of color, Sharp
Marquand (c. 1783–unknown), is routinely documented in registers and tax records as a
jeweler living in the Yamacraw area in West Savannah in the 1830s and 1840s.
If successful, silversmiths were socioeconomically mobile. They acquired property, started new ventures, and moved into the landholding class. Through successes and
failures, firms passed from one hand to the next, creating sequences of silversmithing traditions across this city, as illustrated on the map in this gallery.
These two galleries highlight works of craft from the 18th to the 20th centuries from Telfair’s permanent collection that tell stories about Savannah and its surrounding areas’
history and culture. They allow us a glimpse of the creativity and ingenuity of people whose lives often are not documented in the markers and monuments that dot this landscape, many whose identities may never be known.
Significantly, Telfair’s collection currently does not include any work by the historic and traditional stewards of this region’s lands, which include the Guale, Mocama, Muscogee (Creek), Timucuan, Yamacraw, Yamasee, and Yuchi people. We respect these craft traditions and hope to represent them in these galleries in the future.
While materials like wood, sea grass, and clay often point to this region’s physical environment and the communities who have become rooted within it, silver tells stories about movement. Silver had to be brought to the region from elsewhere, either by melting old wares or importing the metal from Mexico or South America. Like their medium, silversmiths historically came to Savannah from other locations, typically New England states. They maintained family and business connections to regularly import silver objects for sale locally, appealing to the tastes of middle-class and upper-class consumers who had the wealth to buy their wares. With some firms, it is impossible to discern whether a particular work was made in Savannah or simply marked here.
Silversmithing, jewelry making, and clockmaking overlapped, and these craftspeople often were entrepreneurs who sold many other types of objects in their shops. They mostly were white men, but some had wives who continued operating their firms after their deaths. Importantly, most are known to have enslaved people of African descent, some of whom may have been forced to perform tasks. One free person of color, Sharp
Marquand (c. 1783–unknown), is routinely documented in registers and tax records as a
jeweler living in the Yamacraw area in West Savannah in the 1830s and 1840s.
If successful, silversmiths were socioeconomically mobile. They acquired property, started new ventures, and moved into the landholding class. Through successes and
failures, firms passed from one hand to the next, creating sequences of silversmithing traditions across this city, as illustrated on the map in this gallery.
Objects