The Syng Inkstand
•Artist: Philip Syng
•Year: 1752
•Type: Silver Inkstand
•Location: Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia
The Syng inkstand is a silver inkstand used during the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the United States Constitution in 1787. It is one of four objects (besides paper documents) still existing that were present during the Constitutional Convention, along with Independence Hall itself, the Liberty Bell, and the chair that George Washington sat in as the Constitutional Convention’s presiding officer.
The Founders met in a borrowed building, the capitol of Pennsylvania, and used chairs and tables on loan from the Pennsylvania State government. Both the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention laid claim to few belongings or real estate. Yet their meeting place, the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House in the building we call Independence Hall, had hosted legislators for years and became well-equipped. Fine paneling covered the east wall, marble framed two large fireplaces, and a crystal chandelier adorned the room. Members used locally produced Windsor and ladder-backed chairs. On the table atop the speaker’s dais sat a silver inkstand made in 1752 by Philadelphian Philip Syng, Jr. for the provincial assembly of Pennsylvania. It is both a work of art and an important historical artifact, as it was used by such prominent Founding Fathers of the United States as Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, James Madison, and the other signers of the founding documents. John Hancock utilized the inkstand to write his well-known signature on the Declaration of Independence.
Desktop inkstands hold ink for quill pens and other tools that require ink. Ornate versions include a pen holder, an inkpot, a candle to melt sealing wax, and a pot similar to a salt or pepper shaker used to pour pounce to aid in the sizing of parchment or vellum. The Syng inkstand is decorated in late Rococo style and includes a pounce pot, quill holder, and inkpot.
Syng immigrated to America from Ireland in 1713. He was a renowned silversmith who created fine works in silver and gold for the wealthy families of Philadelphia. He was an associate of Benjamin Franklin and a prominent member of the Philadelphia community who assisted in founding the Library Company of Philadelphia, the American Philosophical Society, the Union Fire Company, and the University of Pennsylvania.
On two official occasions this borrowed inkstand played a symbolic yet crucial role in the ceremonial history of the early republic. Each congressman who signed the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776, followed by each delegate who signed the Constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787, probably dipped his pen into Syng’s inkstand. Then, as well scratched across parchment, he made his personal, irreversible, and very public commitment to another national milestone. Since those moments of destiny, in all the years that have followed, these men have carried the honor of “Signers.” And, as far as curators and historians can be certain, it was the Syng inkstand that facilitated their entry into this very restricted club.
The Pennsylvania assembly retained ownership of the inkstand when the state capital moved from Philadelphia to Harrisburg. But, as 1876 in the centennial of the Declaration of Independence approached, the Assembly recognized the symbolic value of the inkstand and returned it to its birthplace in the city of its most honored service. There it has become an increasingly treasured and recognizable symbol of our national origins.
The Syng inkstand became the property of the State of Pennsylvania and was moved to the state capital in Harrisburg soon after the Constitutional Convention ended. It was returned to the City of Philadelphia in 1876, on the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, where it became famous. It was displayed in Independence Hall on a desk in front of George Washington’s chair. Cracks appeared in the plaster ceiling of Independence Hall in 1922 and stoked fears that the building would collapse, and the inkstand was considered such an important artifact that it was removed at the same time that the first floor was cleared of visitors.
The National Park Service acquired the inkstand when it took over maintenance of Independence Hall from the City of Philadelphia. It is now on display in a special case in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, along with copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, and the Constitution.
