Silver teapot

Joseph Lownes (1758-1820), Philadelphia

ca. 1810

Lownes was a "practicing Quaker all of his lifeŠ In 1785 he marrie Esther MiddletonŠ In the same year he is listed in the first Philadelphia directory as a goldsmith on Front Street. By 1787 he had two apprentices, Samuel Williamson and Joseph Head, who was black. By this time Head had learned his craft well, for in the same year he showed a coffeepot of his own making to the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, which found him a 'workman of distinguished abilities.'" Later became an importer of China goods.