Engraved Sugar Tongs BBF

silverly · Post by **silverly** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 4:35 pm

The only name that I know that matches this maker's mark and the age of this piece is Benoni B Forman who worked in Albany, New York in what looks like the correct period. Could anyone make a better suggestion or confirm my guess? Thank you in advance.

.

wev · Post by **wev** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 4:52 pm

That is the mark shown in Darling for Forman.
.

silverly · Post by **silverly** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 5:05 pm

Thank you. The library that has the better references for my purposes in downtown Norfolk, Virginia has been torn down to make way for a new light rail system, I think. A new one is being built around the corner for from the site of the old one, and hopefully, it will have some new references too.

By the way if hasn't already been documented somewhere else, Benoni was working in Brooklyn in 1850 to 1870 time frame. He was born around 1780 in New York.
.

wev · Post by **wev** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 5:25 pm

Yes, I added him to my project since the last build. His daughter married George Carpenter Whitney, also listed as a silversmith in Brooklyn, who may have apprenticed with Forman.

May I use the image of the mark?
.

silverly · Post by **silverly** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 6:23 pm

Sure, use the mark. Maybe you can tweak it to make it a little more presentable.

I may have spoken too soon about the 1850 period for Benoni in Brooklyn, 1860 to 1870 for sure.
.

wev · Post by **wev** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 6:34 pm

Thanks, but I actually found a better shot in Belden -- forgot he was listed there. He was in Albany until 1846, then worked in Troy until 1848/1849, so he could easily have moved on to Brooklyn by 1850.
.

wev · Post by **wev** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 6:43 pm

You may have found it already, but there is a similar set of Forman tongs in the Yale Collection
.

silverly · Post by **silverly** » Thu Jan 14, 2010 7:02 pm

I hadn't seen the set in the Yale Collection, so thanks. Not that it matters much, but I like the engraving better on theirs and the acorn ends on mine. All in all they are both very similar.
.