Skip to main content
A sterling silver sugar tongs with oval-shaped tips, the arms engraved with brightwork design a…
Sugar Tongs
A sterling silver sugar tongs with oval-shaped tips, the arms engraved with brightwork design a…
A sterling silver sugar tongs with oval-shaped tips, the arms engraved with brightwork design and inscribed “MIC”.
Sugar Tongs, Ann Bateman & Peter Bateman, 1797, sterling silver, Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia.

Sugar Tongs

Maker (British, Partnership, 1791 - 1799)
Date1797
Mediumsterling silver
Dimensions5 1/2 inches (14 cm)
MarkingsMaker's mark stamped on the arm interior: PB / AB [in rectangle]; Hallmarks stamped on the arm interior: B [in shield]; lion passant; king's head; crowned leopard's head
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Robert P. Liggett.
Object number1992.7.1
On View
Not on view
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 TextThese sugar tongs are decorated with brightwork engraving and have acorn grippers. Sugar tongs were first introduced on European tables during the second quarter of the eighteenth century, when sugar became more readily available on the Continent due to colonization and the rapid spread of sugar cultivation using the forced labor of enslaved indigenous people and Africans in the Caribbean islands. The utensils became enormously popular. By the end of the century and into the next, tongs were cut from sheet silver and usually decorated with bright-cut engraving or patterns such as this one that echoed flatware for the dining table. The tapering arms often ended in round, oval, shell, acorn, or eagle claw tips. Peter and Ann Bateman, the makers of these tongs, were the son and daughter-in-law of Hester Bateman, an English silversmith who successfully ran her family business for thirty years following the death of her husband John in 1760.
Collections
Sterling silver sugar tongs with oval-shaped tips, the arms engraved with brightwork design and…
Hester Bateman
1780
Sterling silver open sugar bowl with ovoid body in fluted, brightwork decorated panels, and upr…
Ann Bateman & Peter Bateman
c. 1791 - 1799
Sterling silver ovoid teapot with fluted, brightwork decorated panels, a hinged lid, and wood f…
Ann Bateman, Peter Bateman & William Bateman
1802
Ann Bateman, Peter Bateman & William Bateman
1802
A silver oval sugar basket on a pedestal base with a cobalt blue glass liner and an engraved bo…
Hester Bateman
1788
Sterling silver sugar basket with cobalt blue glass liner. The handle and base have an openwork…
Hester Bateman
1782
A silver oval, straight-sided teapot with a wooden handle and finial on the lid, and adorned wi…
Hester Bateman
1780
A pair of silver sugar tongs with a shell relief on each shoulder and lion's paw grips.
David B. Nichols
c. 1791 - 1860
A silver sugar tongs in the king's pattern with shell tipped claspers inscribed with the initia…
Frederick Marquand
c. 1820 - 1839