Description:
Silver tablespoon with fig-shaped bowl and up-turned trifid or dognose handle with the touchmarks "IA" in a quatrefoil and "IE" in a quatrefoil, which was made by John Allen (1671/72-1760) and John Edwards (c.1671-1746) of Boston, and the engraved initials "S / S E" on the handle. These may be the initials of the Reverend Solomon Stoddard (1643-1729), one of the most erudite and powerful clergymen of New England, and Esther Warham Mather Stoddard (c.1644-1736) of Northampton, Massachusetts, who married in 1670. As leading citizens of Northampton, the Stoddards owned an impressive array of silver, including a standing salt by Allen and Edwards (one of only three known in American silver, published in the "Great River" catalogue, and now owned by the NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art). This spoon may be one of "ten Silver Spoons" valued at over 12 pounds in Stoddard's inventory. The Stoddard's granddaughter, Dorothy Williams (1713-1808), daughter of Rev. William Williams (1665-1741) and Christian Stoddard Williams (1677-1764) of Hatfield, married Jonathan Ashley (1712-1780) of Deerfield circa 1736. The donor, Captain Edgar Miller Williams (1889-1986), was the son of Admiral Clarence Stewart Williams (1863-1951) who married Anna M. Miller (1860-1955), the daughter of Dr. J. M. Miller of Springfield, Ohio, in 1888; his grandfather was Orson Bennet Williams (1834-1912), who was born in Ashfield and married Pamelia L. Floyd of Springfield, Ohio, in 1862; his great-grandfather was Samuel Barnard Williams (1803-1884) of Deerfield who married Mary A. Bennet (d.1839) of Ashfield, Massachusetts, in 1834, and Caroline Johnson (d.1885) in 1844; his great-great grandfather was Elijah Williams (1767-1832) who married Hannah Barnard (1772-1853), daughter of Samuel Barnard (1721-1788) of Deerfield, in 1803; and his great-great-great grandfather was Dr. Thomas Williams (1718-1775) of Deerfield. This branch of the Williams family is also related to Elizabeth Williams Champney (1850-1922), a well-known writer of her period, who was the half-sister of Orson Bennet Williams and the wife of the artist, James Wells Champney (1843-1903).
Label Text:
This silver spoon was owned by the Reverend Solomon Stoddard (1643-1729), one of the most learned, powerful, and influential clergymen of New England, and his wife Esther Warham Mather Stoddard (c. 1644-1736), who married in 1670. As leading citizens of Northampton, Massachusetts, the Stoddards owned an impressive array of silver, including a standing salt (one of only three known in American silver and owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art). This spoon is likely one of "ten Silver Spoons" valued at more than £12 in Solomon Stoddard's probate inventory. The worn contours of the spoon's bowl reveals its many years of use.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+69.0126 |
