MARK OF BENJAMIN WYNKOOP, NEW YORK, 1700-1720

Silversmith Benjamin Wynkoop (1673-1751) was born in Kingston, New York, to Cornelis Evertsz Wynkoop (1627-1676) and his wife Maritje Janse Langedyck (1629-1679). Although it is unclear when his parents emigrated from Holland, they had relocated to the colonies by 1657 when they married in New York City. Benjamin was baptized in Kingston’s Old Dutch Church in 1675 and was made a freeman Manhattan in 1698. From 1703-1722 he served as collector and assessor for the South Ward, where he lived with his wife Femmetje Van de Heus, who he married in 1697. Wynkoop was part of a larger family of New York-based silversmiths of Dutch ancestry. In addition to being brother-in-law to Jacob Boelen (1657-1729), his sons Cornelius (1701-40) and Benjamin Jr. (1705-66) both followed in their father’s trade. Benjamin Jr., who later worked in Fairfield, Connecticut, married the daughter of silversmith Jacobus Van der Spiegel (1668-1708) further strengthening his family’s connection within the field.
A smaller tankard made by Benjamin Wynkoop for Jonas Douw (1655-1736) in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (01.3.1) features a similar engraved beak, corkscrew thumbpiece and cherub handle terminal. These features can also be seen on a Wynkoop tankard made for Johannes and Helytje Roosevelt now in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery (1930.1069).