Description:
Silver spout cup with tapered body, two thick wire loop handles, applied shaped spout (may have been added ater), and a high reeded foot. The cup is marked with "T.H" in roman letters in a rectangle twice on the base for Thomas Hammersley (1727-1781) who worked in NYC from 1756-1769, and engraved with the foliate initials "ES" with "E" on one side of the spout and "S" on the other, and "JAD" in a medallion on the back (initials added later). A spout cup was usually a covered cup with a handle at right angles to the long thin spout, which is described by Beth Wees as a form used in the 17th and early 18th centuries for drinking curdled beverages such as posset or syllabub. The low-based spout would allow the drinker to partake only of the liquid that settled below the thick curdled layer. Although common at the time, few English spout cups survive; those that do are generally fitted with silver rather than wooden handles. They are somewhat more common in American silver, particularly in New England. It has also been suggested that vessels of this design were used as cruets for oil and vinegar. This cup was one of 92 pieces in the Watson-Crichton Collection (Watson #25), 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.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+54.471 |
