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English Colonial Antique Silver - Bermuda

A 1676 map of the Somers Isles (Bermuda) by John Speed, based on the map of surveyor Richard Norwood

Bermuda is a fairly isolated set of islands in the Atlantic Ocean around 650 miles east of the coast of North Carolina. There are seven main islands and several more smaller islands. The main islands are all close enough to be connected by bridges and are usually referred to together as the Island of Bermuda.

The islands were first discovered by Jaun de Bermudez in 1503. Juan was a Spanish explorer and, although the island is named after him he didn't attempt to land on the islands because of the dangerous reef.

Over 100 years later in 1609, George Somers was leading a group of colonists from England when they were shipwrecked on Bermuda. They found the island to be uninhabited. They were stranded there for 10 months. When they returned and told stories of the beautiful island, King James decided to extend the Charter of the Virginia Company to include it in 1612. That same year the city of St. George was founded by the first colonists from England. Today St. George is the oldest continuously inhabited English-speaking settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

In 1620, Bermuda became a self-governing colony. Some slaves were brought to Bermuda at the start. In 1807 the slave trade was abolished and existing slaves were freed in 1834. As a result, over half of Bermuda's current population is of African descent. (https://www.ducksters.com/geography/country.php?country=Bermuda)

 There were a number of silversmiths active on Bermuda in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Most used just their initials in a punch. The two most commonly found (although still rarely!) in my experience are Peter Pallais (working late eighteenth century) and George Hutchings (working early to mid nineteenth century). Below are some examples of the work of George and his marks.

The main reference book on Bermudan Silver is Bermuda's Antique Furniture and Silver by Bryden Bordley Hyde. (We currently have one copy for sale here).
A pair of (very worn!) Bermudan Tablespoons with the maker's mark for George Hutchings


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