Samuel Edwards (June 21, 1705 - April 14, 1762) was a noted 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

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. Edwards was the son of silversmith John Edwards (1671-1746); his older brother Thomas Edwards was also a silversmith. He married Sarah Smith on August 23, 1733, and was appointed Assessor in 1760. He created pieces for a number of local congregations and received commissions from the General Assembly for presentation pieces, as well as selling silver to individuals. His obituary in the ''Boston Gazette'', April 19, 1762, records that he "... died here after a few Days Illness of a violent Fever, in the 57th Year of his Age, Mr. Samuel Edwards, goldsmith, who, for several Years has been one of the Assesors of the Town; and esteemed as a Man of Integrity, exact and faithful in all his Transactions; His Death is Lamented as a publick Loss." He bequeathed to his nephew, silversmith

Joseph Edwards Jr. Joseph Edwards Jr. (November 11, 1737 – April 23, 1783) was an American silversmith, active in Boston. Edwards was born into a distinguished family of Boston silversmiths. His grandfather, John Edwards (1671-1746), came to Boston in 1688; aft ...

, "a thimble stamp and a swage for tea and large spoons." On June 17, 1765, "Joseph Edwards of Cornhill" advertised in the ''Boston Gazette'' the sale of some of the late Samuel Edwards' possessions, including "Gold Beads, a pair Gold Buckles, Gold Buttons, with many other Articles of Gold and Silver, too many to be enumerated." Edwards' work is collected in the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

Currier Museum of Art The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, in the United States. It features European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Mon ...

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 ...

Historic Deerfield Historic Deerfield is a museum dedicated to the heritage and preservation of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and history of the Connecticut River Valley. Its historic houses, museums, and programs provide visitors with an understanding of New Engla ...

, and

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 ...

References

"Samuell Edwards"
American Silversmiths. * ''American Silversmiths and Their Marks: The Definitive (1948) Edition'', Stephen Guernsey Cook Ensko, Courier Corporation, 1983, page 50. * ''American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago'', Art Institute of Chicago, Yale University Press, 2016, page 89.
"Flashback: The Burts, Boston Silversmiths"
Thomas Hamilton Ormsbee, Collectors Weekly. {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Samuel American silversmiths 1705 births 1762 deaths