Name/Title
Singleton-Lowndes Silver Tea Service and Storage BoxEntry/Object ID
2016.1.1 A-LDescription
Silver and simple wooden box made to hold the tea service. The set includes a breadbasket, waste bowl, coffeepot, teapot, creamer, two crystal containers, one silver holder with a lid for the crystal container, silverplate tray, and fitted box for service.Context
Originally used at Kensington Mansion for the Singleton and Lowndes families, this tea service was likely purchased by Matthew Richard Singleton (1817–1854) while he was traveling in Europe. It was passed through the family before being transferred to Historic Columbia.
Kensington Mansion was constructed in the early 1850s under the orders of Colonel Richard Singleton (1776–1852). By 1852, it was home to his son Matthew; Matthew’s wife, Martha Rutledge Kinloch Singleton (1818–1892), who descended from the Lowndes family of Charleston; and their three children. Under Richard and Matthew’s management, the Singleton family enslaved 281 men, women, and children at the site and enslaved many more people on their other plantations in Richland, Orangeburg, and Sumter counties. After Matthew’s death in 1854, Martha managed the estate, which was held in trust for her and her children.
Accounts of enslaved life at Kensington can be read through "My Life in the South," the memoir of Jacob Stroyer (1846–1908) who was enslaved at the site and endured over a decade of abuse while working as a child jockey and carpenter. Following emancipation, Jacob moved to Massachusetts where he later became a minister and penned his memoir. The Singletons’ descendants continued to rely on Black laborers even after the Civil War and lived on the plantation until 1910.Dimensions
Dimension Description
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