November 21, 2025: Fall Premier Americana: Day Two Featuring The Benny Long Collection
Jeffrey S. Evans & Assoc., Inc. info@jeffreysevans.com
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| $0 | $10 |
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| $500 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $3,000 | $250 |
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| $30,000 | $2,500 |
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EXTREMELY RARE COLLIN AND PRESLEY CORDELL, LEESBURG, VIRGINIA COIN SILVER SUGAR TONGS, having an unusual perpendicular-twist tapered arms with pointed oval grips and engraved undulating line borders to sides, exterior at bend with engraved scalloped border and frame around an "R" initial. Interior of bend impressed with "C.CorDeLL" mark for Collin Cordell of Leesburg, VA (active 1800-1803), who also worked in Charles Town, (W)VA (1803-1809), and two "PC" for Presley Cordell of Leesburg (1799-1835), who also worked in St. Louis, MO (c.1836-1849), this pair of tongs was likely made when the brothers worked in the partnership established by their father, George E. Cordell & Son(s) of Leesburg (c.1800-c.1809). Total weight: 1.060 ozt. Early 19th century. 6" LOA.
Literature: Hollan - Virginia Silversmiths, pp. 175 and 178, each mark a, Hollan mentions this pair of tongs in the description of the marks.
Catalogue Note: The form of these tongs is unusual, though we have found a few examples mainly by Mid-Atlantic makers in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. For a pair by William Ball of Baltimore, MD recorded in the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) object database, see photo no. S-9240. For a pair by William Gethen of Philadelphia, PA, see the Winterthur Museum Collections, object no. 1962.0240.1627. For a pair by John Murdock of Philadelphia, PA, see the Art Institute of Chicago Collection, reference no. 1981.8. For two other pieces by Presley from the same collection, see lot 1459, the ladle has a similarly engraved "R" initial.
Bend with a 1/4" L split at center and slight bending, otherwise in very good overall condition with some wear, surface scratches, and nicks, very slight worn spots to engraving.
Damewood Auctioneers, Purcellville, VA, 6/16/2025, lot 464 (partial).
Ex-estate collection of William C. Whitmore, Jr., Leesburg, VA, great, great-grandson of Leesburg potter, Frederick W. Shafer (1819-1904).
Exhibited: As noted by Hollan, these tongs were on an extended loan at the Loudoun Museum in the 1990s.
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