GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Johann Rudolph Wendt (1826-1907) was born in Osnabrück, Germany. Early in 1842, at the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed to the Osnabrück master goldsmith Dietrich Heinrich Stadt II. Records indicate that he served his master with distinction. In 1847, after five years of training, Wendt made two repoussé silver salt cellars and a gold seal ring as evidence of his skills as Meisterstücke and was accepted into the Guild as a journeyman. It appears that Wendt immigrated to the United States during the politically turbulent year 1848, since he disappears from the records of his native Osnabrück in this year and appears in America shortly thereafter.
In 1850 Wendt was listed in the Boston directories as a silver chaser. His success was rapid, for he was already in a silverware manufacturing partnership with Augustus Rogers by 1853. A contemporary report in Leading Pursuits and Leading Men (1856) mentions the Rogers & Wendt partnership and states: "Mr. J. R. Wendt, a German, [is] reputed to be one of the best designers and chasers in the art." Wendt held patents for at least two design patterns for flatware. There are two others by "Rudolph Wendt," but it is uncertain whether they are by him or by a nephew or cousin employed by him. Additionally, in the Digest of Assignments of Patents (held in the National Archives and dated 4 December 1856) is a record of a proposed patent by John R. Wendt, assigned to John R. Wendt and Augustus Rogers "for the manufacture of Hollow Metallic Brads and Balls." presumably in silver. In 1856 Wendt was briefly involved in a firm titled Rogers, Wendt & Langdon, which manufactured watch cases. For a few months in 1859, Wendt took up manufacturing alone.
In January 1860 Augustus Rogers, John Wendt, and George Wilkinson formed a partnership for the purpose of supplying silverware to the prominent New York City retail house Ball, Black & Co. For reasons unknown the firm lasted only eight months. Wilkinson had been the chief designer for Gorham and returned to that position when things did not work out. However, Wendt moved forward on his own. The impressive Ball, Black & Co. building was completed in 1860, and Wendt occupied the fourth and fifth floors. It should be noted that John R. Wendt & Co. was a separate firm working on the premises, and although he had a special relationship with Ball, Black & Co., he was not a part of it.
The Federal Industrial Census of 1870 indicates a capital of just over $16,000 for the firm, which employed seven males and three females and had an annual production of $30,000. Additionally, it had an 8-horsepower steam engine and owned an impressive amount of machinery. These production figures are lower than one might expect, and there is evidence to suggest that Wendt might have understated them, or that they might have been listed incorrectly.
In 1871 the firm was sold to Wendt's partners Bernard D. Beiderhase and Charles Witteck. Little is known about the remainder of Wendt's life. His will, dated 28 June 1904, represented him to be a resident of Shaverstown, Staten Island, New York. Estate papers indicate, however, that he died in Germany in 1907. There is no mention of a wife or children, his heirs being sisters, sisters-in-law, and nieces, all residents of Germany.
For the greater part of his career, Wendt did not use a manufacturing mark, his pieces being marked only by the retailer. Consequently most pieces can only be attributed to him based on their style and on his work for Ball, Black & Co.
Excerpt from
- Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 323
NOTES
updated format, added tags, and wrote rule, JBA - 8/15/17
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General Description
Johann Rudolph Wendt (1826-1907) was born in Osnabrück, Germany. Early in 1842, at the age of fifteen, he was apprenticed to the Osnabrück master goldsmith Dietrich Heinrich Stadt II. Records indicate that he served his master with distinction. In 1847, after five years of training, Wendt made two repoussé silver salt cellars and a gold seal ring as evidence of his skills as Meisterstücke and was accepted into the Guild as a journeyman. It appears that Wendt immigrated to the United States during the politically turbulent year 1848, since he disappears from the records of his native Osnabrück in this year and appears in America shortly thereafter.
In 1850 Wendt was listed in the Boston directories as a silver chaser. His success was rapid, for he was already in a silverware manufacturing partnership with Augustus Rogers by 1853. A contemporary report in Leading Pursuits and Leading Men (1856) mentions the Rogers & Wendt partnership and states: "Mr. J. R. Wendt, a German, [is] reputed to be one of the best designers and chasers in the art." Wendt held patents for at least two design patterns for flatware. There are two others by "Rudolph Wendt," but it is uncertain whether they are by him or by a nephew or cousin employed by him. Additionally, in the Digest of Assignments of Patents (held in the National Archives and dated 4 December 1856) is a record of a proposed patent by John R. Wendt, assigned to John R. Wendt and Augustus Rogers "for the manufacture of Hollow Metallic Brads and Balls." presumably in silver. In 1856 Wendt was briefly involved in a firm titled Rogers, Wendt & Langdon, which manufactured watch cases. For a few months in 1859, Wendt took up manufacturing alone.
In January 1860 Augustus Rogers, John Wendt, and George Wilkinson formed a partnership for the purpose of supplying silverware to the prominent New York City retail house Ball, Black & Co. For reasons unknown the firm lasted only eight months. Wilkinson had been the chief designer for Gorham and returned to that position when things did not work out. However, Wendt moved forward on his own. The impressive Ball, Black & Co. building was completed in 1860, and Wendt occupied the fourth and fifth floors. It should be noted that John R. Wendt & Co. was a separate firm working on the premises, and although he had a special relationship with Ball, Black & Co., he was not a part of it.
The Federal Industrial Census of 1870 indicates a capital of just over $16,000 for the firm, which employed seven males and three females and had an annual production of $30,000. Additionally, it had an 8-horsepower steam engine and owned an impressive amount of machinery. These production figures are lower than one might expect, and there is evidence to suggest that Wendt might have understated them, or that they might have been listed incorrectly.
In 1871 the firm was sold to Wendt's partners Bernard D. Beiderhase and Charles Witteck. Little is known about the remainder of Wendt's life. His will, dated 28 June 1904, represented him to be a resident of Shaverstown, Staten Island, New York. Estate papers indicate, however, that he died in Germany in 1907. There is no mention of a wife or children, his heirs being sisters, sisters-in-law, and nieces, all residents of Germany.
For the greater part of his career, Wendt did not use a manufacturing mark, his pieces being marked only by the retailer. Consequently most pieces can only be attributed to him based on their style and on his work for Ball, Black & Co.
Excerpt from
- Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 323
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updated format, added tags, and wrote rule, JBA - 8/15/17
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artists_and_designers-0174.xml.nores