DOI issue:
Nr. 339 (August 1925)
DOI article:Pennington, Jo: American domestic silver
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19985#0354
mceRHACionAL
the Indian language, acted as interpreter for Peter addition to his famous patriotic feat, became
Stuyvesant. Kierstede left New York and much engraver; publisher of historical and political car-
of his work has been found in Connecticut where toons, many of which he drew himself; manu-
he lived during the latter part of his life. Other facturer of gun powder and of church bells and a
Dutch smiths were the Boelens, Carol Van Brugh, dealer in rolled copper. He made frames for the
Jacobus van der Spiegel, Bartholomew Schaats, famous Copley portraits and kept a hardware
Benjamin Wynkoop, Peter van Dyck and his son store in which he sold, among other things, false
Richard, Jacob Ten Eyck, Koenraedt Van Eyck, teeth. That he was not ashamed of these avoca-
John Vernon, Garret Onclebagh, Nicholas Roose- tions, particularly the last, is attested by his
velt and Adrian Bancker. advertisement in the Boston Gazette in 1770; in
John Hull was the first Boston smith of whom it he boasted that he could fix teeth in such a
we have any record. He was a native of England, manner that they would be not only an ornament
a farmer's son, and he became master of the Mas- but of real use in speaking and eating. If he could
sachusetts mint when the first American coinage make good his boast, he might, were he alive, do
was struck—defying the order from England that a thriving business today. His work in silver
only the crown had the compares favorably
right to com money.
These were the famous
Pine Tree shillings. It
was Hull's daughter
Hannah who was
placed in the scale
that her weight in
these shillings might
be given her as a dow-
ry. But the legend
breaks down on close
inspection. In the first
place, Hannah was no
featherweight; her
bulk was a byword in
Boston. Yet the rec-
ords show her dowry
to have been five hun-
dred pounds or the
with the work of the
best English smiths of
the Georgian period
because of its delicacy
of design and excellent
proportions. He made
use of ornament a little
more freely than most
of his contemporaries.
The most impor-
tant pieces, from the
collector's viewpoint,
made by our bibulous
ancestors was the
tankard. They were
usually six or seven
inches high (except
the New York tank-
ards which were often
SILVER TANKARD BY NICHOLAS ROOSEVELT, 1735
equivalent of only 125 Courtesy oj ciaPP & Grab™ larger) and had
pounds of flesh! More- straight, tapering
over the dowry was actually paid after the wedding sides, hinged covers and "s" shaped handles,
and—final blight to romance—in instalments! They were popular only until about 1750. The
Hull took into partnership with him Robert earlier ones were flat topped but the later had
Sanderson who became a famous smith in his own domed hds. In New York they superseded the
right. Then followed Jeremiah Duramer and John beaker and these Dutch tankards differ from other
Cony (the maker of the earliest known American colonial types both in size and in the decoration
teapot, a bell-shaped vessel in the Clearwater of the lid which often had a coin or medal inset
collection). Cony was Dummer's brother-in-law or was engraved in a Dutch design. Tankard
and learned his trade from the latter. Other handles were often ornamented to give the drinker
Boston smiths of this early period were John the firm grip required when these large vessels
Edwards, Edward Winslow, David Jesse, John were filled. New England tankards were usually
Dixwell, James Turner, William Cowell and his marked with the initials of husband and wife and
son, and Andrew Tyler. After these, silversmith- the handles were sometimes decorated with cherub
ing in Boston fell into the hands of the Burts, the heads—a local type of ornament never seen on
Hurds and the Reveres. English prototypes. Some handles, if not rein-
The elder Revere had been apprenticed to the forced with a beaded edge or other decoration,
famous John Cony and his son Paul was only were strengthened with a rattail. In the last
nineteen when his father died and he was left to period of the tankard—about the time of Paul
carry on the business. In time Paul Revere, in Revere—tankards had a mid-band, a dome top
three fifty-Jour
AUGUST I925
the Indian language, acted as interpreter for Peter addition to his famous patriotic feat, became
Stuyvesant. Kierstede left New York and much engraver; publisher of historical and political car-
of his work has been found in Connecticut where toons, many of which he drew himself; manu-
he lived during the latter part of his life. Other facturer of gun powder and of church bells and a
Dutch smiths were the Boelens, Carol Van Brugh, dealer in rolled copper. He made frames for the
Jacobus van der Spiegel, Bartholomew Schaats, famous Copley portraits and kept a hardware
Benjamin Wynkoop, Peter van Dyck and his son store in which he sold, among other things, false
Richard, Jacob Ten Eyck, Koenraedt Van Eyck, teeth. That he was not ashamed of these avoca-
John Vernon, Garret Onclebagh, Nicholas Roose- tions, particularly the last, is attested by his
velt and Adrian Bancker. advertisement in the Boston Gazette in 1770; in
John Hull was the first Boston smith of whom it he boasted that he could fix teeth in such a
we have any record. He was a native of England, manner that they would be not only an ornament
a farmer's son, and he became master of the Mas- but of real use in speaking and eating. If he could
sachusetts mint when the first American coinage make good his boast, he might, were he alive, do
was struck—defying the order from England that a thriving business today. His work in silver
only the crown had the compares favorably
right to com money.
These were the famous
Pine Tree shillings. It
was Hull's daughter
Hannah who was
placed in the scale
that her weight in
these shillings might
be given her as a dow-
ry. But the legend
breaks down on close
inspection. In the first
place, Hannah was no
featherweight; her
bulk was a byword in
Boston. Yet the rec-
ords show her dowry
to have been five hun-
dred pounds or the
with the work of the
best English smiths of
the Georgian period
because of its delicacy
of design and excellent
proportions. He made
use of ornament a little
more freely than most
of his contemporaries.
The most impor-
tant pieces, from the
collector's viewpoint,
made by our bibulous
ancestors was the
tankard. They were
usually six or seven
inches high (except
the New York tank-
ards which were often
SILVER TANKARD BY NICHOLAS ROOSEVELT, 1735
equivalent of only 125 Courtesy oj ciaPP & Grab™ larger) and had
pounds of flesh! More- straight, tapering
over the dowry was actually paid after the wedding sides, hinged covers and "s" shaped handles,
and—final blight to romance—in instalments! They were popular only until about 1750. The
Hull took into partnership with him Robert earlier ones were flat topped but the later had
Sanderson who became a famous smith in his own domed hds. In New York they superseded the
right. Then followed Jeremiah Duramer and John beaker and these Dutch tankards differ from other
Cony (the maker of the earliest known American colonial types both in size and in the decoration
teapot, a bell-shaped vessel in the Clearwater of the lid which often had a coin or medal inset
collection). Cony was Dummer's brother-in-law or was engraved in a Dutch design. Tankard
and learned his trade from the latter. Other handles were often ornamented to give the drinker
Boston smiths of this early period were John the firm grip required when these large vessels
Edwards, Edward Winslow, David Jesse, John were filled. New England tankards were usually
Dixwell, James Turner, William Cowell and his marked with the initials of husband and wife and
son, and Andrew Tyler. After these, silversmith- the handles were sometimes decorated with cherub
ing in Boston fell into the hands of the Burts, the heads—a local type of ornament never seen on
Hurds and the Reveres. English prototypes. Some handles, if not rein-
The elder Revere had been apprenticed to the forced with a beaded edge or other decoration,
famous John Cony and his son Paul was only were strengthened with a rattail. In the last
nineteen when his father died and he was left to period of the tankard—about the time of Paul
carry on the business. In time Paul Revere, in Revere—tankards had a mid-band, a dome top
three fifty-Jour
AUGUST I925