On the Event of the 250th Declaration of Independence

The world is full of stories hiding in plain sight. As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Philip Syng's story deserves to be better known.

Every object on a Ulysses Whiskey x Art label is there for a reason. Some are immediately recognisable. Others reveal their significance only after closer inspection. Together they form a visual collage inspired by the narrative, characters and ideas of James Joyce's Ulysses.

For Episode Two – Nestor, the ingenious designers at Stranger & Stranger found themselves recreating the world of Mr Deasy's schoolroom. There would be books, ledgers, a teacher's desk, and, naturally, an inkwell. Finding an inkwell seemed one of the easier tasks. It turned out to be one of the most rewarding...

My role in this collaborative art and design process is to find real-world objects with a fascinating or quirky backstroy. What began as research became fascination, which soon became obsession. And before I knew it, the tide had carried me off course. The image of the inkwell is only cca 3x4mm on our label, but absolutely worth it! Like so many of the figures who populate Joyce's world, Syng proved impossible to understand in a single sitting. One discovery led to another, and before long I found myself happily lost in the company of a man whose work helped shape history.

Philip Syng was Irish-born silversmith whose work witnessed two of the defining moments in modern history. His silver inkwell, which is one-third of the complete "Syng Inkstand", made in Philadelphia in 1752, would later be used during the signing of both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. It remains one of the great surviving artefacts of America's founding, yet few outside specialist circles recognise either the object or the remarkable Irish craftsman who made it (despite the fact that it features on the face of every $100 bill since 2013)...

An Irish Beginning

Philip Syng jnr. was born in Cork in 1703 into a family of silversmiths. His father, Philip Syng snr., was already an established craftsman, practising one of the most respected trades of the early eighteenth century. Long before industrial production, every piece of silver was made entirely by hand. A successful silversmith required not only artistic talent but mathematical precision, metallurgical knowledge and enormous patience.

In 1714, when Philip was eleven years old, the family emigrated to Britain's North American colonies. After a brief stay in Annapolis, they settled permanently in Philadelphia, where Syng snr. established his workshop and trained his sons in the family business.

It proved to be a fortunate moment to arrive. Philadelphia was rapidly becoming the largest city in British North America, a place where merchants, printers, craftsmen and philosophers were building not merely prosperous businesses, but the civic institutions that would shape a new society.

A Master of Silver

By the 1730's, Syng had become one of Philadelphia's leading silversmiths. His workshop produced an extraordinary variety of objects: tankards, teapots, salvers, ladles, communion vessels, sugar bowls, porringers, buckles, buttons and spoons. Today his work survives in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Winterthur Museum, Yale University Art Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and numerous private collections.

Looking across those surviving pieces, certain qualities emerge. Syng's silver rarely relies upon excessive decoration. Instead, its beauty comes from balance, proportion and confidence. These were objects intended for daily use, yet made with such skill that they have endured for nearly three centuries.

The surviving spoons, in particular, tell stories beyond their maker. Initials commemorate marriages. Later engravings record inheritances. Objects that began as wedding gifts became family heirlooms, quietly accumulating history as they passed from one generation to the next.

The story took an unexpected turn when I found a silver spoon Syng had made, which was a wedding gift to a couple in 1767. Their surname began with "W", his first name with "S" and hers with "A"... so far, so normal. It got very weird when I discovered in a close-up that the spoon was later gifted to a certain "Paul" in 1872...

“Think you’re escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.“

As predicted by Joyce, the line is spoken by Stephen Dedalus in Episode 3 — Proteus. The idea is that all the detours, delays, and wanderings we take eventually bring us back to ourselves; the apparent long route is, paradoxically, the true route home.

Benjamin Franklin's Circle

Syng's reputation brought him into contact with many of Philadelphia's leading citizens. Most significant among them was Benjamin Franklin. The two men became close friends through Franklin's Junto, a discussion society where members debated science, politics, philosophy and public life. Franklin later referred to Syng as his "worthy and ingenious friend."

Their friendship extended beyond conversation. Syng participated in Franklin's early experiments with electricity, becoming one of the small circle helping investigate phenomena that would later make Franklin internationally famous. Although Franklin rightly receives credit for those discoveries, Syng belonged to the remarkable community of craftsmen and thinkers who helped make them possible.

The Signing of the Constitution of the United States painting by Howard Chandler Christy. Benjamin Franklin features front and centre. Enlarge the image to see the Syng Inkstand on the desk.

A brief history of the painting...

1937 – Representative Sol Bloom (yes, Bloom!) proposed commissioning a monumental painting for the 150th anniversary (Sesquicentennial) of the Constitution.

1939 – Congress finally approved the commission and selected Howard Chandler Christy.

1940 – The painting was completed and unveiled in the U.S. Capitol.

Like Franklin, Syng seemed incapable of limiting himself to a single profession. He became a founding member of the Union Fire Company, America's first volunteer fire company. He helped establish the Library Company of Philadelphia. He served as a founding trustee of the Academy and College of Philadelphia, the institution that would later become the University of Pennsylvania. He supported Pennsylvania Hospital, the American Philosophical Society and numerous other civic organisations. His life reminds us that eighteenth-century craftsmanship was often inseparable from citizenship.

The Inkstand

In 1752 Syng made a silver inkstand for the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania, intended for use in the Assembly Chamber of what is now Independence Hall. It was simply a working object for the business of government. History had other plans! Twenty-four years later, delegates dipped their quills into Syng's inkstand as they signed the Declaration of Independence. Eleven years after that, the same inkstand was used again during the signing of the United States Constitution. Today, it remains on display at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, a modest piece of Irish craftsmanship that quietly witnessed the birth of a nation.

Joyce filled Ulysses with things that appear mundane until we understand the stories they carry. Philip Syng's inkstand belongs naturally among them. It began life as a practical object for a government chamber. It became one of the silent witnesses to the birth of a nation... that is precisely the sort of transformation Joyce delighted in, as do we, which is why we love sharing the journey.

An Irish Legacy

As America celebrates its 250th year of independence, Philip Syng deserves to be remembered alongside the generation that built the republic, because he represents an essential truth about history: nations are built not only by politicians and generals, but by craftsmen.

Sometimes history rests, quite literally, on the smallest things.

Welcome to the journey!