Heraldic Engravings on Colonial Silver

Heraldic Engravings on Colonial American Silver

3 March 2015Maria A. Dering

When does a symbol become heraldry?

Ancient heraldry

● That was the sign of the god Khepri – a relief panel showing baboons adoring the god, represented as a beetle. The sign identifies him.

1800 or so years later ...

● We find symbols of colonial families – heraldry – engraved on silver. “This is mine.”

In the American colonies, silver was not only a sign of wealth.

It was wealth.

And it got stolen … a lot!

It could be melted down … if you had a furnace that could be heated to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Or just hook up with a not-so-savory blacksmith or metalworker ...

who had a furnace and a set of these

Heraldry as identification of owner

● Some items were identified by their hallmarks.

● Some could be

identified by the heraldry on them.

Silver Wealth

● Let’s turn to the estate of a very wealthy man: Abraham de Peyster, merchant, soldier, and politician.

● 20th Mayor of New York 1691-94

● Interim Governor of the Colony of New York (1701)

● First Treasurer of the Provinces of New York and New Jersey.

● Born: July 8, 1657, to Johannes and Cornelia Lubberts de Peyster. (Johannes emigrated from the Netherlands.)

● Married: second cousin Catharina de Peyster on April 5, 1684, while visiting Amsterdam.

The de Peyster Arms

● Painted arms on cloth, collection of the New-York Historical Society.

Bartholomew Le Roux – Trencher Salt

● de Peyster Trencher Salt● Date of fabrication: between 1690-1710● One feature: “New York early Baroque era

acanthus” – one of the most common plants used in ornamentation and decoration.

The de Peyster Arms on a Trencher Salt

Acanthus

Abraham de Peyster's SilverIn 1728, his estate held more than 1,618 ounces of silver items, including:● 7 silver tankards● 6 candle sticks● 3 pairs of candle snuffers● snuff boxes● salvers and punch bowls● silver ware for dining and entertaining, and ● 11 silver salt cellars.

Tankards & City Receipts

● The tankards alone cost approximately £12 each to make in 1711

● Their total value was about £84. ● In the year before de Peyster died (1727),

the city’s entire receipts were £217.● That's only about three times as much as the

value of the seven silver tankards de Peyster owned.

More on Bartholomew Le Roux

● First non-Dutch silversmith known to work in New York.

● Born 1663 in London to a Huguenot family.● Declared Freeman of New York on 6 June 1687.● Married 16 November 1688 to Geertruyd van

Rollegom.● Father of silversmith Charles Le Roux.● Master of Dutch silversmith Jacob Ten Eyck

(1705-1793).

Bartholomew Le Roux

● Here is another fine piece: a tankard made for the Van Rensselaer family.

● Date of piece: unknown ● Detailed engraving of the family shield, a

modern version of which follows:

Van Rensselaer Arms

Bartholomew Le Roux - Tankard

Jacob Boelen - Teapot

● Born circa 1657-1729● Teapot made in New York City 1700-1715.● One of the earliest known American teapots, in

the Baroque style.● Displays the arms of the Philipse (originally

“Flipse”) family, wealthy merchants in colonial New York.



Simeon Soumaine – Tea Caddy

● Baptized 1685, died ca. 1750● Active in New York City 1725-1740● The engraved arms on the tea caddy are those

of the Bayard family of new York.

Simeon Soumaine – Tea Caddy

Simeon Soumaine: Tea Caddy

● ARMS: Azure, a chevron between three escallops, or.

● CREST: A demi-horse, argent.

● MOTTO: Amor honor et justitia.

● The crest has become the shield in Soumaine's work.

Charles Le Roux

● Charles Le Roux, son of Bartholomew Le Roux, was one of the most lauded silversmiths in the colonial era.

● Awarded many official commissions.● Born in New York, baptized 22 December 1689.

Died 1745.● Declared Freeman of New York on 16 February

1724/25.● Married Catherine Beekman ca 1710 in Flatbush

(now Brooklyn) and probably died there.

Coffee Pot – Charles Le Roux

● Made between 1725-1735 ● Engraved with the coat of arms of Assheton quartering

Shepley. This is one of the best examples of what came to be known as the Huguenot style: simple, well proportioned, elegant lines, judicious decoration.

● Made for Ralph Assheton (1695-1745/6), Philadelphia. Assheton was born in Salford, Lancashire, England

● Moved with his parents to Pennsylvania at the age of four.

Le Roux Coffee Pot

Assheton Arms

Description of Assheton Arms

● Granted to Ashton of Shepley, county Lancaster, on 16 Aug 1632, and this Ashton is considered to be the ancestor of Ralph Assheton of Philadelphia.

● In the Visitation of Lancashire (1664-65) by Sir William Dugdale, the arms are described thus:

● “Arms – Quarterly: 1 and 4. Argent, a mullet [diamond shape] sable, a crescent for difference; 2 and 3. Argent, a mascle [5-pointed star] within a bordure engrailed, sable.”

● “Crest – A man with the scythe.”

Detail Assheton Arms – Coffee Pot

LeRoux Coffepot

Does Le Roux's Work Fit the Description?

Assheton Arms on Coffee Pot Salver

Detail of Assheton Arms - Salver

More on Charles Le Roux

● Charles Le Roux was awarded many official commissions by the Common Council, including one in 1723 for “the sum of twenty three pounds Nineteen Shillings Current Money of New York for A Gold Box and engraving the same (by this Corporation presented unto Capt. Peter Solgard Commander of his Majesties Ship Greyhound for his Signal service in taking Pyrates upon the Coast &c) as Appears by his Acct. which is Audited and allowed.”

● Solgard vanquished two pirate sloops headed up by “one Low a Notorious Pyrate” that had terrorized the coast of New England for more than two years.

● Unfortunately, the gold box appears to have disappeared in to the mists of time.

● But the engraving must have been dramatic: the arms of the Corporation of New York on one side and “on the Other his Majesties Ship Greyhound Engaging two Pyrate Sloops and A Motto Over them (Viz) Quaesitos Humani Generis Hostes Debellare Superbum) …” from Virgil: “Seeking to Vanquish the Arrogant Enemies of Mankind”.

Peter Quintard

● Baptized at the French Church in New York on 28 Jan 1699/1700.

● Apprentice to Charles Le Roux ca 1724, in New York.

● Continues the Huguenot style, with modifications.● Working years 1725-1737● Became a Freeman of New York on 18 May 1731. ● Died in Connecticut ca 1737.

Tankard – Peter Quintard

● Probably made for the Gansevoort family, judging from provenance provided by Metropolitan Museum.

● “Gans” is Dutch for “goose.”

Rendition of Gansevoort & Lansing Arms

Gansevoort/Lansing Arms

Tankard – Peter Quintard

Table Spoon – Barent Ten Eyck

● Family identification in words rather than images● Barent Ten Eyck was part of the Ten Eyck silversmith

dynasty founded by Konraet Ten Eyck. Barent Ten Eyck made this spoon between 1740-1750 for the Van Renssalaer family.

● The transcription of the writing reads: “pat Kyll van Rense gebod 28 Feber 1655 obut dn 3 Mart 1687”

● Family genealogy right here on this spoon! But what does it mean?

Table Spoon – Barent Ten Eyck

Table Spoon – Top

Mug – Jacob Ten Eyck

● Next – a fascinating engraving on a mug by Jacob Ten Eyck (1705–1793), made between 1735-50

● Jacob was a son of Konraet Ten Eyck.● He was also apprenticed to Bartholomew

Le Roux in the early 18th century.



The provenance of this piece is:● Jonas V. Douw (ca. 1655–1736); ● to his son Petrus Douw (1692–1775); ● to his daughter Magdalena Douw (Mrs. Harmen) Gansevoort

(1718–1796); ● to her son Peter Gansevoort (1749–1812);● to his son Peter Gansevoort, Jr. (1788–1876);● to his daughter Catherine Gansevoort (Mrs. Abraham) Lansing

(1839–1918);● gift to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1901.

I don't know if the images are based on a coat of arms. I could not find anything on the Douw family arms, and these are not reminiscent of the Gansevoort arms.

Salver – Daniel Fueter

● Moving ahead in time:

● The Provost Family arms rendered by New York silversmith Daniel Christian Fueter

● Date of piece: ca. 1754-69.

● A Rococo version of the family arms with the motto “Pro Libertate.”

Provost Arms



Pair of Sauceboats: Joseph Richardson

● Richardson was born in 1711 and died in 1784.● He worked in Philadelphia for prominent families

such as the Logans, whose arms Richardson engraved on a pair of sauceboats.

● This work was done between 1750-54.● Arms: Or, three passion nails gules conjoined in

point piercing a man's heart proper. In base a lion passant of the third. Crest: A stag's head proper gorged and chained or.

Logan Arms

Sauceboats: Joseph Richardson

Richardson: Sauceboats(detail)

North to New England

● Next – a lovely teapot by Josiah Austin in Massachusetts

● Date made: between 1745-1755.● Fashioned for the Ware family.● Based on the family arms. A modernized

version follows, from a Ware family website.

John Coney - Tankard

● Born 1655/56, died 1722● Worked in Boston circa 1715.● The arms on the tankard are those of the

Holyoke family and were presented to Edward Holyoke when he resigned his position at the Second Congregational Church of Marblehead to become president of Harvard College in 1737.

Holyoke Arms

Holyoke Arms: Painting attributed to Samuel Blyth (1744–1795)

Medium: gouache and gilt on parchment

John Coney -Tankard

Jacob Hurd - Cann

● Born 1702/3, died 1758● Worked in Boston● This piece made ca. 1745● The engraved arms are those of the

Gardner/Gardiner family.

Jacob Hurd - Cann

Josiah Austin - Teapot

● Born 1719/20; died ca. 1780)● Teapot, 1745–55● Engraved on the teapot are the arms of the

Ware family.● Worked in Charlestown, Massachusetts● Apprenticed from about 1734 to 1741 to Jacob

Hurd in Boston. (We just viewed the Cann by Jacob Hurd.)

Ware Family Arms

Teapot – Josiah Austin

Detail: Teapot by Josiah Austin

Tankard – Edward Winslow

Winslow worked in Boston from 1725-1750.

This piece has clean, clear engravings that are easy to see.

The tankard shows the arms of Governor Thomas Hutchinson, a Loyalist, Massachusetts.

Hutchinson Arms

Tankard – Edward Winslow

The Silver Oar

The Oar – Details

● About 22 inches long● Weighs a little over 12 ounces● Fashioned by Charles Le Roux ca 1725.● The bottom fits into the top of a staff carried

before the judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court when he entered the court.

● Coat of arms of British monarch on front.● Symbol of the Admiralty on back.

The Silver Oar - Detail

Mace of the Vice-Admiralty Court

● The Silver Oar was part of the mace (ceremonial staff of office) of the Court in the Province of New York until 1775.

● The marshall of the court in 1775 was Thomas Ludlow, Jr.

● Took the oar in 1775.● Family claims they kept it for safekeeping …

until 1939.

Loan collateral

● Oar put up as collateral for a loan by a family member in 1939.

● Sold in 1940 to a silversmith, Robert Ensko.● Ensko sold it to a group of Columbia University

men and friends, for $2,500.00. Fund raising effort was led by Charles Culp Burlingham (1858-1959), Bachelor of Laws, Columbia , 1881.

to the Court

On 14 February 1941, the silver oar was presented to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

See document no. 259.

Where is the oar today? I leave you with that question.

Art & Photos

Heraldic Engravings on Colonial Silver