Lewis Fueter (1746–1784), born Ludwig Anton Fueter, was an American

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

, active in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Feuter's father was silversmith

Daniel Christian Fueter Daniel Christian Fueter (1720–1785), whose name was variously written as Fouaitier and Fouetter, was a Swiss-American silversmith and medalist, active in New York City from about 1754 until 1764 or 1766. Fueter was born in Bern, Switzerland, ...

, and he was born in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, before the family emigrated. They arrived in

circa 1754, where his father established a shop. It seems likely that he worked in his father's shop for some interval, then entered into partnership with his father as evidenced by the following advertisement: When his father returned to

in 1769, along with the younger son,

Christian Fueter Christian Fueter (June 2, 1752 – January 19, 1844) was a Swiss medalist and mint-master at Bern from 1792 to 1837. Fueter was born in London, the youngest son of Daniel Christian Fueter, a goldsmith who had taken refuge in England for politic ...

, Lewis remained in New York with his brother Daniel Fueter, Jr. He established his own shop, as indicated by the following advertisement: Fueter was made freeman on March 28, 1775. A few months later, on August 12, 1775, he was attacked by a mob of American revolutionaries for his Loyalist inclinations. As recorded in a letter written from Staten Island by an unknown Tory: "The persecution of the loyalists continues unremitted. Donald McLean, Theophilus Hardenbrook, young Fueter, the silversmith, and Rem Rapelje of Brooklyn, have been cruelly rode on rails, a practice most painful, dangerous and, till now, peculiar to the humane population of New England." By about 1778, Feuter was commissioned to make sword belt plates for the Royal Provincial Corps. When the British evacuated New York in 1783, Fueter accompanied them to Halifax. Shortly thereafter he went to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, where he drowned in 1784. Fueter's work is collected in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Clark Art Institute The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, commonly referred to as the Clark, is an art museum and research institution located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. Its collection consists of European ...

, and

Winterthur Museum Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States. The museum and estate were the home of Henry Francis du Pont ...

References

"Lewis Fueter"
New York Historical Society.
"Some Royal Provincial Belt Plates and the Revolutionary War: Vanguard of British Neo-classicism in America?"
by Gary Hughes, in ''Material Culture Review'' 73 (Spring 2011).

University of Oxford Text Archive. * ''American silver at Winterthur'', Ian M. G. Quimby, Dianne Johnson, Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1995, page 230.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fueter, Lewis American silversmiths 1746 births 1784 deaths People from Bern Swiss expatriates in the United States