MaFch, 1 9 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



99 



making of our first American currency. A study of old 

 American silver will readily show that the objects wrought 

 were chiefly those which combine utility with beauty. Tea 

 and coffee services were in demand, with trays and salvers 

 of various kinds — flagons and tankards, beakers and bra- 

 ziers, and the delicately perforated little strainers which 

 sometimes possessed one handle and sometimes two. Add 

 to this list spoons and forks and porringers of different 

 kinds and the assortment of objects, the making of which 

 occupied the time of our early metal workers, is complete. 



The illustrations convey some idea of the beauty and 

 delicacy of the silver made in those far distant days. Upon 

 page 96 is shown the exquisitely graceful little tea set of 

 three pieces which was presented by a number of his fellow 

 citizens to Edmund Hartt, who constructed the frigate 

 "Boston" in 1799. Several of the beautifully fashioned 

 vessels shown in the group upon page 97 are from the col- 

 lections of various old churches in New England, the gifts 

 of members of their congregations, whose names and arms 

 appear duly engraved thereon. Many of the pieces shown 

 in the other groups, notably the beautiful hot-water urn in 

 the picture upon page 98, are the work of Paul Revere, 

 whose skill in design as well as in execution placed his 

 wares, as has been said, in the first rank of artistic im- 

 portance. 



The form of the teapot varied considerably in early 

 Colonial days, and those shown in these pictures illustrate 

 the different shapes — bell or pear-shaped, globular or oval. 

 The very tiny teapots are the earliest and are relics of the 

 days when tea was sold at a price so high that its use was 

 possible only in very small quantities. "Bohea" sold in 

 Boston in 1666 at 60s. per pound, but as it came into more 

 general use, the price of tea was gradually reduced until, 

 in 1771, it retailed for 3s. per pound. The shape of the 

 teapot determined, of course, the shape of the sugar bowl 

 and the creamer which were included in the set. 



During the past thirty years early American silver has 



become increasingly rarer and consequently more valuable. 

 Much has become the property of the great museums, 

 although much, of course, remains the highly-treasured heir- 

 looms of the families for whom it was made, and the 

 churches for the use of which it was fashioned. What 

 stories this old silver could tell had it but the power of 

 speech to voice its experience — stories of the domestic life 

 of the days when the nation was in the making, and when 

 the household silver of one day might be put into the melt- 

 ing pot to supply coin required for some financial exigency. 

 Or else the stories might be of the social revels and gaieties 

 of our Colonial forebears, or of the jovial hours about the 

 tavern fireside, or in the tap-room of the village inn, where 

 wit challenged repartee in the political discussions of the 

 day. Other old silver might remind us of the christening 

 or marriage of the men and women who created the gov- 

 ernment and institutions which are ours to-day, and certain 

 old tankards, beakers, chalices and plates might remind us 

 of the reverent spirit which established upon the bleak 

 shores of a new land the religious customs of an older land 

 beyond the seas. 



The demand for early American silver, besides greatly 

 decreasing the number of pieces offered for sale, has caused 

 the increase of the prices asked in even a greater ratio. 

 Some few of the leading silversmiths in the larger cities 

 generally have a number of pieces on hand for whose au- 

 thenticity they are prepared to vouch. Then, too, one may 

 sometimes purchase excellent examples at sales of household 

 effects, particularly in places which are comparatively small 

 and off the beaten track. Such silver, however, is con- 

 stantly becoming more difficult to obtain, and soon the wares 

 of these old Colonial metal workers will be far beyond the 

 reach of any excepting fortunate collectors who are pre- 

 pared to pay any price demanded for what they feel they 

 must obtain. The collector must be on his guard against 

 purchasing as early American silver, the reproductions so 

 occasionally offered as genuine work of Colonial craftsmen. 



The beauty of early American Silver is due largely to the gracefulness of its proportion. The round baptismal basin was made by Paul 

 Revere for presentation by Ebenezer Oliver to King's Chapel, Boston, in 1 798. The center tray, the sauceboat, the strainer (lower right 

 hand corner) and the small creamer on the left were also by Revere. The beaker to the right was made by Jacob Hurd and the coffee-pot 



(center) by Samuel Minott 



