Description:
Silver apple-shaped teapot with a flush-mounted cover with a 5-segment hinge and artichoke finial; wooden C-shaped handle with two cast silver handle sockets, the upper with an acanthus leaf on top and scrolls on the side; cast S-curve spout with C scrolls next to the body; and cast one-piece stepped circular foot. The teapot is marked "TH" in roman letters in a rectangle twice on the base for Thomas Hammersley (1727-1781) who worked in NYC from 1756-1769, and is engraved with an unidentifed engraved coat-of-arms with flames around a rampant dragon crest over a knight's helmet over chevron between three swans in a scrolling foliate suround over the ribboned motto "FLAMMIS TUTELA VIRTUS" (Flames teach virtue) on the right side. "Boltons' American Armory" lists a coat of arms with similar designs from a bookplate of James Swan (Boston Tea Party), but the motto is different; the "Flammis" motto is not listed in Fairbairn or Bolton. In 1992, Jenine Skerry questioned if the apple shape (a shape rarely found in NY silver) and construction suggested a provincial English maker. She also noted that the surface has been heavily buffed, and the arms might be continental and added in the 19th century on the "wrong" side (to the right of the handle). As the hostess poured tea from her right hand, the coat of arms should be on the left side of the handle. However, HD also has a similar unmarked teapot attributed to Hammersley, which was bought from Ensko in NYC. The teapot (HD 54.468), two canns (HD 54.469.1/2), four salts and spoons (HD 54.470.1-.8), spoons (HD 54.471.1-.3), serving spoon (HD 54.472), and tankard (HD 3041) seem to be from the same family based on the arms, crests, or initials. This teapot was one of 92 pieces in the Watson-Crichton Collection (Watson #22), acquired by the Flynts in 1954 from Victor A. Watson (1897-1974), son-in-law and partner of Lionel Alfred Crichton (1866-1938), a retail silversmith and dealer in antique plate with shops in London, New York City and Chicago. Crichton, who was considered one of Britain's most prominent silver dealers of the early 20th century, started collecting American colonial silver for his own personal interest after WWI; the Watsons refused to sell the collection until meeting the Flynts. American silver found in England with English family heirlooms has been called "loyalist silver," since many pieces came to England with returning loyalists; however, this broadly-used term does not allow for pieces sent as gifts and taken over later. Wgt. 17 ozs., 5 dwt.., 16 grs.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+54.468 |
