ROBERT F. ENSKO

Makers of Early American Silver, 1915

Robert Ensko, Inc. reproduction of an Early American teapot in the style of Peter David of Philadelphia, circa 1725

'Robert F. Ensko I' (1855 - May 13, 1934) also known as 'Robert Ensko, Sr.' was a Manhattan silver expert and author of ''Makers of Early American Silver'' in 1915. The book in its multiple editions has become the standard reference work for antique silver.

Birth and siblings

Robert was the son of William Arthur Ensko I (c1830-1858) and Charlotte Coughlin (c1830-?) who emigrated from Ennis, County Clare, Ireland. Charlotte remarried after William's death. Her new husband was Albert Moore (1822-?) and her children moved into his house. Robert's siblings include: William Arthur Ensko II (1850-1889) who married Eloise Lindauer I (1852-1944); Charlotte Ensko (1853-?) aka Lottie Ensko; and Richard Ensko (1857-?) who married and had children, but little is known of him. The family was living in Manhattan between 1870 and 1880.

Marriage

Robert married Mary Elizabeth Bleakley (1858-?) on December 4 1878 in Manhattan, and had the following children: Robert Ensko II (1880-1971) who worked as a lace dealer and married Leah (1891-1972); Charlotte Ensko (1882-?) who married a Horn; Lamont N. Ensko (1890-1987) who worked in the family silver business and married Bernice (c1890-?) but had no children; Stephen Guernsey Cook Ensko (1896-1969) who married Dorothea (1892-1977) and worked in the family silver business; Elathene Ensko (1898-1981) who married George Christie (c1895-?); Lottie Ensko (c1900-?); and William E. Ensko (c1900-1918) who married Alma Dorothy (1891-1984) and died in World War I as a Sergeant in the US Army.

Mother remarries

In 1870-1880 Robert was living in the home of Albert Moore, a cable car conductor, who was his now widowed stepfather. In 1880 Robert was working as a shoe manufacturer, living with his wife, Mary, and their newborn son, Robert Ensko II.

Silver

Robert started a family business of making modern reproductions of antique silver in New York and he authored a book: ''Makers of Early American Silver'' in 1915. Joslin Hall writes:

In this work Ensko was attempting to list known and unknown makers of American silver, their locality and working dates. He lists marks where they are known, and ... concedes the honor of being the first book of marks of American silversmiths to [the] French because Ensko does not actually picture reproductions of the marks themselves, but simply lists them. He also includes several lists of unknown marks, including a group of pieces from the Clearwater Collection, and asks the readers to send him any information they might have. An exceedingly interesting seminal study of American silversmiths.

His son Stephen Guernsey Cook Ensko (1896-1969) would eventually publish three more editions of the book, and his granddaughter Dorothea Charlotte Ensko (1920- ) would publish an additional one. Robert appears in the 1920 and 1930 Manhattan Directory dealing in "antiques" at 682 Lexington Avenue, and living at 799 Park Avenue.

Death

He died on May 14 1934 and his funeral notice appeared in the New York Times on May 15 1934. He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn on May 16 1934. The probating of his will was reported on May 24 1934.

Archive

Some of Robert's correspondences with Heinrich Schwarz are archived at the Rhode Island School of Design, Museum of Art, Providence, Rhode Island. Other letters are archived with the Bernard M. Bloomfield Papers, 1743-1963 at Winterthur in Delaware. One letter is dated January 7 1917 and is addressed to Maurice Brix and concerns "the earliest date for the firm of H.I. Pepper and Sons". Other letters between Maurice Brix and Hollis French dated: February 18 1927; March 4 1927; and April 4 1927 inquire about Robert Ensko's publications. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has one piece of silver that was owned by Robert Ensko, Inc.: A two-handled bowl dated between 1700–1710, made by Cornelius Kierstede (1674–c1757). It is MMA 38.63.

Ensko books

★ 1915 ''Makers of Early American Silver'' Robert Ensko (1852-1934)

★ 1927 ''American Silversmiths and Their Marks''; Stephen Ensko (1896-1969)

★ 1937 ''American Silversmiths and Their Marks''; Stephen Ensko (1896-1969)

★ 1948 ''American Silversmiths and Their Marks''; Stephen Ensko (1896-1969)

★ 1992 ''American Silversmiths and Their Marks''; Dorothea Charlotte Ensko (1920- ) and Vernon Charles Wyle (1912-1986)

References

★ Robert Ensko, ''Makers of Early American Silver''

★ New York Times; May 15, 1934; page 21 "Funeral Notice"

★ New York Times; May 24, 1934; page 46 "Wills Probated"

★ Washington Post; November 11, 1936; page 18 "Rare Ensko Silver Collection Displayed by Mrs. Crawford. English and Early American Originals Included Among Pieces Sponsor Hopes Will Help Stimulate Revival of Ancient Craft. An opportunity is offered to lovers of authentic antique silver in Washington. Mrs. Edna Crawford Johnson is holding this week, throughout Saturday, a unique display of silver pieces belonging to the collection of Robert Ensko, New York City."

★ Washington Post; November 7, 1937; Rare Old Silver For Collectors To Be Exhibited. Display Opens Tomorrow at Mrs. Johnson's Home Here. An important exhibition of rare old silver opens tomorrow at the residence of Mrs. Edna Crawford Johnson, 2517 Connecticut Avenue. Among pieces to be shown are selected examples of collectors silver from Robert Ensko's Inc., New York.

★ Boston Globe; July 2, 1993; "Elizabeth Parke Firestone amassed what some experts consider the greatest privately owned collection of French silver in the world, so great that ambassadors from the mighty Louvre used to come calling on her in her Newport, Rhode Island home, hoping to persuade her that in the fullness of time, the collection ought to return to la France. It didn't. The collection, more than 300 dazzling pieces, has instead come to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, where part of it is on ... In 1940 Elizabeth Firestone happened to visit a New York silver dealer, Robert Ensko, to buy a wedding present for Henry Ford II. When she later bought her ..."