Silver spoon – Truths of the Trade: Slavery and the Winterthur Collection

This silver spoon bears the mark of Alexander Petrie, a silversmith in Charleston, South Carolina, but it likely was wrought by Petrie’s enslaved assistant, Abraham. Working in Petrie’s fashionable and urban shop, Abraham would have been exposed to the height of English style and entrusted with producing costly pieces that met the demands of sophisticated customers.

This spoon is a reminder that from the mine to the shop to the home, enslaved hands made possible the domestic luxuries of the eighteenth century, like silver, that are celebrated in museums today.

Alexander Petrie Silver Spoon