Tablespoon
Datec. 1805
Mediumsilver
Dimensions9 1/8 × 1 7/8 inches (23.2 × 4.8 cm)
MarkingsMaker's mark stamped on the handle back: J.PEARSON [in rectangle]
Credit LineGift of Thelma R. Rosen in memory of her husband, Dr. Emanuel F. Rosen.
Object number1986.15.7
CopyrightThe images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextThis is one of three tablespoons with a coffin handle inscribed “EGR.” Prior to 1825, spoons were by far the most common silver objects to be found in the household and estate inventories of Savannahians. By 1800 spoons with rounded handles were no longer so fashionable, and the canted corners of coffin handle spoons rose in popularity.
Silversmith John Pearson, whose mark is on this spoon, was active in New York, New York from around 1791, and in Savannah from 1802 to 1817; he worked in partnership with John Letourneau from 1802 to 1803. Tax records show that he enslaved one to three laborers. On November 14, 1817, he published the following notice in Savannah newspapers: “John Pearson, having retired from his professional business of jewelry and watchmaking, notifies those who have watches and jewelry jobs in his possession, that they may receive them by applying to D. B. Nichols.”
