Description:
Silver octagonal pepper box or pepper caster with a finely pierced cover with a cast finial, tapered body, molded base, and S-scroll handle marked "Hurd" in script in a shaped rectangle for Jacob Hurd (1702/3-1758); engraved with "N / ES" altered to "EP" with a flower in between the initials on the base; and "3 " 2 .66" and "89518" on the base. There is a small "x" on the pepper box lid as well as on the main vessel, which allows you know where the two pieces go together correctly. Jacob Hurd has long been recognized as one of the leading New England silversmiths of the mid-18th century. The patriarch of a prominent Boston silversmithing family, he produced a wide range of tablewares in the Queen Anne style. These pots or casters were used to dispense sugar and other dry condiments at table. During a visit to HD on June 13, 2013, silversmith Steve Smithers noted that it is very difficult and challenging to create a silver object in an octagonal form.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+57.280 |
