Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century family silver

Magazine Antiques, Jan, 2005 by Margaret K. Hofer

In 1895 George C. McWhorter (1822-1902) presented the New-York Historical Society with a silver cann (Pl. I) once owned by his great-grandfather, the Presbyterian minister and patriot Alexander McWhorter (1734-1807). Although made by the now-celebrated New York silversmith Myer Myers, the cann was cherished not for its superb craftsmanship, but for its association with a Revolutionary War chaplain and its status as a family relic. This inaugural donation of silver to the society was followed by many more gifts and bequests of family silver over the next century. Unlike silver collections in art museums, which are often shaped by the bold vision of a single collector or a curatorial aim for comprehensiveness, the society's collection is distinguished by rich legacies and the "patina" conferred by successive generations of family ownership. The majority of silver in the collection descended in the family of the

original owner, and gifts of tankards, tea sets, and tablespoons were often accompanied by the donation of other household objects, portraits, and family papers. These associated items provide a rich context and a greater understanding of how the silver was used and valued over time. Although the silver holdings span more than three centuries, this brief overview focuses on examples owned in colonial and early Federal New York, both little-known treasures and recognized masterpieces of early American silver.

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The gift of the McWhorter cann was followed soon after by several significant legacies from other families, notably the 1911 bequest of Catherine Augusta De Peyster (before 1856-1911) of more than one hundred De Peyster and Beekman family objects, including thirty-two pieces of silver. These included the family's cherished brandywine bowl, or brandewijnkom (Pl. VII), a form associated with the kindermaal, a gathering of female neighbors to celebrate the birth of a child. Following Dutch custom, the bowl would have been filled with brandy and raisins and passed around for each guest to serve herself with a silver spoon. (1) The bowl is engraved on one foliate lobe with the initials of Catherine De Peyster's ancestors Cornelis De Peyster (1673-after 1729) and Maritje Bancker De Peyster (1675-1709/10), who married in 1694. Initials of successive generations of De Peysters are engraved on a second lobe and in the center of the bowl, signaling the generational passage of this ceremonial object. What came to the society as a curious family heirloom in 1911 is now recognized as one of the most elaborate examples of the lobate bowl form, represented by approximately twenty extant examples. Made primarily between 1670 and 1750, the Dutch brandewijnkom was appropriated by New York City and Albany silversmiths and transformed into a distinctive regional form, typically featuring six lobes, repousse-chased floral motifs, and cast caryatid handles. (2)

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The teapot in Plate V, the earliest piece of New York silver in the society's collection, was part of the voluminous 1915 bequest of Philip Schuyler (1836-1906). Engraved with the Schuyler arms within a baroque cartouche, the teapot also bears the engraved cipher of Captain Johannes and Elizabeth Staats Wendell Schuyler (Pl. IV), who married in 1695. This stout, gently rounded form, originally catalogued as "unmistakably of European origin and quite possibly of Dutch or German production," may in fact be the earliest extant New York teapot and one of the earliest surviving teapots made in the colonies. (3) Loosely based on Chinese ceramic teapots and wine pots, this design predates the standardization of the teapot form in London. (4) The teapot is stamped four times on the bottom with an unusual demihorse mark, attributed to the Albany silversmith Kiliaen Van Rensselaer. (5) After completing an apprenticeship in New York City, Van Rensselaer served as a journeyman in Boston under the tutelage of Jeremiah Dummer (1645-1718), where he learned to make "large pieces." Correspondence between his mother, Maria Van Cortlandt Van Rensselaer (1645-1688/89), and family members provides a fascinating glimpse into the training and early career of this elusive silversmith. (6) A cousin of the Schuylers, Van Rensselaer set up his own shop outside of Albany in 1683. Although he lived until 1719, he probably produced little silver after becoming lord of the manor in 1687. With only two pieces of silver bearing the demihorse mark and no known work conclusively linked to Van Rensselaer, attribution of the Schuyler teapot remains speculative.

Judging from the silver once owned by Johannes and Elizabeth Schuyler, the couple lived in great luxury in their Albany mansion, built in 1667. (7) The society's ambitious double portrait of the Schuylers (Pl. IV) portrays the dignified Johannes elegantly attired in a powdered wig and velvet coat, standing opposite his seated wife, who is in mourning costume. Schuyler's public role as a civic leader, including several terms as mayor of Albany, may have provided additional incentive for owning stylish, locally made silver. In addition to the teapot, Schuyler descendants donated a mug by the Albany silversmith Koenraet Ten Eyck, one of a pair with exuberantly scrolled handles, meander wire decoration, and the elaborate cipher of Johannes and Elizabeth (Pl. IX). (8) Ten Eyck's account book reveals that he made such decorative hollowware only infrequently. His primary output was Indian trade silver, including gorgets, beads, and buckles. (9) Also among the Schuylers' "plate" was the trumpet-foot salver in Plate VI, embellished with the family arms on the top and the couple's initials on the underside. The unmarked salver, with a gadrooned rim and foot, is very similar to Boston examples made by John Coney (1655/56-1722), Dummer, and Edward Winslow (1669-1753), suggesting another tantalizing link between Albany and the Boston silversmithing community. (10)