Joseph Richardson Sr. (September 28, 1711 - 1784) was an American

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary gre ...

, active in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He has been described as one of the greatest silversmiths of his time. Richardson was born in Philadelphia to silversmith Francis Richardson II (November 25, 1684 - August 17, 1729), and advertised in the ''

Pennsylvania Gazette ''The Pennsylvania Gazette'' was one of the United States' most prominent newspapers from 1728 until 1800. In the several years leading up to the American Revolution the paper served as a voice for colonial opposition to British colonial rule, ...

'' from 1744-1784 as goldsmith. He was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

and an active member of the " Friendly Association for Regaining and Preserving Peace with the Indians by Pacific Measures." As such, he crafted many silver items for Native Americans in addition to bowls, tea sets, and other tableware. He was twice married: first to Hannah Worrell on August 13, 1741, and then to Mary Allen on April 14, 1748, with whom he had two sons (

Joseph Richardson Jr. Joseph Richardson, Jr. (December 4, 1752 – March 11, 1831), was a noted American silversmith, active in Philadelphia. Richardson was born in Philadelphia, the son of silversmith Joseph Richardson Sr. (1711–1784) and grandson of noted silve ...

and Nathaniel Richardson), both of whom he raised as silversmiths. His work is collected in the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mil ...

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 100 ...

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin F ...

Winterthur Museum Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Pronounced “winter-tour," Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States. The museum and estate were the home of ...

, and

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

References

* ''Joseph Richardson and family, Philadelphia silversmiths'',

Martha Gandy Fales Martha Lou Gandy Fales (October 31, 1930 – February 24, 2006) was an American art historian, museum curator, and author specializing in historic American silversmithing and jewelry. She worked as a curator and keeper of the silver at the Winter ...

, Historical Society of Pennsylvania via Wesleyan University Press, 1974.
"Joseph Richardson"
American Silversmiths.
"The Richardsons: A Silver Family"
Lamb Silver. * ''American Silversmiths and Their Marks: The Definitive (1948) Edition'', Stephen G. C. Ensko, Courier Corporation, 2012, page 113. {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson Sr., Joseph American silversmiths 1711 births 1784 deaths