Figure 2. — Snuffbox inlaid with 

 mother-of-pearl and horn made 

 around 1769 by William Carlo, 

 who worked in Portsmouth, New 

 Hampshire. The box measures 

 2'^ X 21^ X u inches. Bequest of 

 Arthur Michaels. In Division of 

 Cultural History. (Ace. 162866, 

 cat. 383486; Smithsonian photo 

 36941.) 



ISth-Century Pieces 



Silversmiths have been making presentation pieces 

 from the earliest days of our country, but the Smith- 

 sonian Institution has only a few 18th-century pieces 

 in its collection. 



Engraved on the flat rim, in addition to the inscription, 

 is a crest at the top and the cherub's head at the 

 bottom. The piece is marked by John Coburn, who 

 lived in Boston from 1725 to 1803. Five trays 

 matching this one are in the Boston Museum of 

 Fine Arts.- 



The earliest of these is an inlaid silver snuflfbox 

 (fig. 2) made by William Carlo, who worked in 

 Portsmouth, New Hampshire, about 1763. The oval 

 box — evidently a gift to the silversmith's second wife, 

 Lydia Croxford, whom he married in 1768 — has in- 

 scribed on its base "The property of Lydia Carlo" 

 and "1769." The cover has an undersurface of horn, 

 and the silver on the outer surface is inlaid with 

 mother-of-pearl and tortoise shell in a filigree pattern. 



* * * 



Many of the earliest pieces of presentation silver 

 were inade for use in churches, and they were given 

 by groups as well as by individuals. Representative 

 of this type is a silver alms plate ' with the following 

 inscription on the rim: 



The Gift of the Hon''''^ thomas hancock Esq" to the 

 CHURCH in Brattle Street Boston 1764. 

 The plate is shallow with a slightly domed center. 



A silver tankard made by Samuel Minott, who 

 worked in Boston from about 1765 to 1803, can be 

 accurately placed by the account of ownership 

 thoughtfully inscribed on its base by one of its later 

 owners. The legend reads: 

 Richard Derby to E. S. Hasket Derby 1763 

 John Derby 

 George Derby 1831 

 Roger Derby 1874 



The tankard has a tapered, ringed body, an S-shaped 

 handle with a plain boss at the end, a scroll thumb- 

 piece, a fiat molded drop ornament on the handle, 

 and a domed cover with an acorn finial. On the 

 body beneath the Derby coat of arms, is mono- 

 grammed "E H D" for Elias Hasket Derby (fig. 3). 

 Elias Hasket Derby achieved wealth and fame as a 

 Salem merchant prince engaged in the China trade. 



■Bequest of Artliur Michaels (ace. 162866, cat. 383497), 

 Division of Cultural History, USNM. 



- E. Alfred Jones, The Old Silver of American Churches (National 

 Society of Colonial Dames of America, 1913), pp. 68-69 and 

 pi. 27. 



84 



BULLETIN 24 1: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



