Description:
Silver cann with a plain baluster body with rings at rim and at circular foot, and a spurred scroll handle with ringed decoration at top end, which is marked "Homes" on the base and "WH" on the rim to right of handle for Wiliam Homes, Sr. (1716/17-1785), and engraved "JAD" in script on the belly. Winterthur also has a silver cann (89.3033) with the same touchmarks and initials, which Patricia Kane dates to circa 1750. William Homes, Sr. apprenticed with the silversmith Rufus Greene according to the family geneaology. He was a journeyman for a couple of years before he set himself up as an independent goldsmith in Boston in 1739. Homes held a responsible position in the Boston community acting as attorney for estates, loaning money, and active in civil and military affairs being a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company and justice of the peace among many positions. Homes made a variety of silver including spoons, canns, porringers, and tankards. He made silver for churches in Lexington and Andover, MA, and Fairfield, CT. There are some scratched numbers on the base. Condition: Two rim dents.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2014.13.4

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.