Collections Database

Description:
Silver tablespoon with an elliptical bowl (tip has been repaired) and a rounded drop and a faint outline of shell on the bowl, and a hemispherical shaft tapered to upturned spatulate-end handle with a short midrib. The spoon is marked "B+H" in a rectangle for Benjamin Hurd (1738-1781), and engraved with the intials "T / DS" in block letters over a small design on the back of the handle. The Yale University Art Gallery also lists a similarly-marked and engraved tablespoon in its collection. Benjamin Hurd and his brother Nathaniel Hurd (1729/30-1777) were both trained by their father, Boston silversmith Jacob Hurd (1702/03-1758). Benjamin Hurd augmented his silversmithing business with copperplate engraving and printing, and was also an accomplished heraldic painter.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1998.7.21

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