Description:
Silver tankard with a raised stepped and domed lid with a cast flame finial secured by a silver rivet through the top and double scored lines around the folded-edge rim; a straight-sided body with an applied flared rim over a single scored line, and applied midband; a cast thumbpiece with a scrolled top edge, and attached to a cast five-segment hinge with pendant drop; a raised and soldered hollow S-curved handle with an oval drop below the upper handle attachment; a circular plate on the body at the lower handle attachment; and a cast tailpiece with the mask of a fierce male face surrounded by a decorative border; and applied base molding consisting of a flat vertical section, broad cyma-recta molding and double beads molding. The tankard is marked "REVERE" in a rectangle to the left of the handle and on the center bottom for Paul Revere, Jr. (1734-1818), and is engraved on the front, "The Gift / of Samuel Barnard, Esq./ to the Church of Christ / in Deerfield / 1763" within a double-lined circle. Samuel Barnard (1684-1762), a survivor of the 1704 raid and later wealthy merchant in Salem, bequeathed funds for silver to three churches: "I allso give to that Church of Christ in Salem whereof I have been for some years a Member; plate to the Value of sixty pounds: I allso give to that Church in Deerfield whereof the Revd Mr. Jonathan Ashley [1712-1780] is Pastor plate to the Value of One Hundred pounds; I allso give to the Church in Greenfield Plate to the Value of Forty pounds." In 1723, Barnard had already given a silver beaker (HD 97.60.8) to the First Church of Deerfield. In 1764, his nephew and estate executor, Joseph Barnard (1717-1785) of Deerfield, the son of Samuel's brother, Ebenezer Barnard (1696-1764) of Deerfield, bought the tankard from Revere. Revere's receipt/bill of sale (HD 77.051) shows a charge of L10:12:8 for 30 oz 8 dwts of silver and L3:3:4 for the making and engraving, for a total of L13:16:00. Formerly L85.13
Label Text:
Historic Deerfield owns twelve original pieces of silver used by the First Church of Deerfield. These forms attest to the Puritan practice of employing domestic vessels in the communion service to express not only their general iconoclasm, but their specific view that communion was a commemorative meal, not a transformation of the wine and bread into the blood and body of Christ. One of the most noteworthy pieces in the group is a 1763 tankard made by Paul Revere II (1734–1818) of Boston. Its engraving reads: “The Gift of /Samuel Barnard Esqr./to the Church of Christ/in Deerfield/1763.” Samuel Barnard was an active supporter of the First Church. In 1723, he gave funds for the church to purchase a silver beaker made by Samuel Edwards (1705–1762). This tankard was created with funds he gave to the church at his death in 1762. Because of the limited skills and tools of local silversmiths, Connecticut Valley consumers had to shop in urban centers for church silver – a specialty of Boston craftsmen.
Tags:
ceremonies Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+97.60.5 |
