Peter Bentzon (silversmith) facts for kids

Peter Bentzon (ca. 1783–ca. 1850) was a Danish West Indies-born American master silversmith. He is the only early-American silversmith of African-ancestry whose silverwork has been identified, he marked his works with his name.

Biography

Peter Bentzon was born ca. 1783 in the Danish West Indies (present day Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands), as a freeman. His mother was of mixed African and European ancestry, and his father was white. He had fair skin complexion, which afforded him more opportunities and a larger social circle during this time.

Bentzon apprenticed in silversmithing (ca. 1791) and learned his trade in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Island; and in Philadelphia. A few years later he opened his own silver shop in Philadelphia.

Bentzon's work can be found in public museum collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Saint Louis Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the African American Museum, the Krannert Art Museum, and the Winterthur Museum.