Object Number 2012.0037

Object Name

Bowl (Waste or slop bowl)

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Museum purchase with funds drawn from the Centenary Fund

Creator (Role)

William Ashmead (Maker)

Place of Origin

Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Date

1797-1810

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Base, underside, corner; "W Ashmead" in mixed capitals and script within a rectangle, stamped
2. Mark; Base, underside, corner; "W Ashmead" in mixed capitals and script within a rectangle, stamped
3. Mark; Base, underside, corner; "W Ashmead" in mixed capitals and script within a rectangle, stamped
4. Mark; Base, underside, corner; "W Ashmead" in mixed capitals and script within a rectangle, stamped
5. Mark; Bowl, underside, center; "W Ashmead" in mixed capitals and script within a rectangle, stamped
6. Mark; Bowl, underside, center; "WA" in serifed Roman capitals within a rectangle, stamped
7. Mark; Bowl, underside, center; "WA" in serifed Roman capitals within a rectangle, stamped
8. Mark; Bowl, underside, center; "WA" in serifed Roman capitals within a rectangle, stamped
9. Mark; Bowl, underside, center; "WA" in serifed Roman capitals within a rectangle, stamped

Materials

Silver

Techniques

Wrought

Dimensions (inches)

4.4 (H) , 4 (W) , 6.4 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

11.1 (H) , 9 (W) , 16.3 (Diam)

Object Description

Web - 03/20/2014

This smooth-sided waste or slop bowl for a tea set has an applied beaded molding encircling the opening, the joint between the bowl and base, and the outer edge of the stepped, circular base. There are no visible signs of engraving or erasure on the bowl. Rather surprisingly, there are two marks for the maker stamped a total of nine times on the underside of the base. The mark "W Ashmead" in mixed capitals and script within a rectangle is stamped in each corner of the foot and once on the bowl's underside in the center. The mark "WA" in serifed Roman capitals within a rectangle is stamped four times around the surname mark on the bowl's underside. William Ashmead is known only from a listing in a 1797 Philadelphia directory as "silversmith" working at 122 Race Street. This bowl is the only documented example of his surname mark, and in conjunction with the initials mark, helps to identify any spoons or other silver he may have made.
It is unclear whether the William Ashmead listed living in Germantown in the Pennsylvania Census of 1800 is the same man, but his name also appears in the "Aurora General Advertiser" on December 13, 1806 with a notice of property seized for a sheriff sale in Germantown that was previously owned by "Benjamin Morgan, but now or late of William Ashmead..." There is a William Ashmead listed as deceased at age 41 on October 19, 1814 in Philadelphia, but his profession is not given. Another William Ashmead in Germantown had a will witnessed by Thomas Armat and Robert Bringhurst on Dec. 18, 1815. It left his property to two sons and two daughters, but did not have an inventory or business record [See: Philadelphia wills, #150 for the year 1815, microfiche]. Further research is needed.