Salver

Inscriptions

Marked on face near rim: IC [fleur-de-lis below in heart]; engraved at center of face: [coat-of-arms; Cheever family?]; engraved on bottom, near rim: DW; engraved on bottom, along side, in script: Presented to Zions Church Augt [t superscript] 10 1833 by Mrs [rs superscript] C.D. Wolfe

Label

The heavy reeding on the rim and foot of this salver is characteristic of the Baroque style, which emphasized weighty proportions and rich, shimmering surface ornament.

By the early 18th century, a period of prosperity in Boston, silver had become an increasingly popular, and ever more opulent, form for displaying one’s wealth. The productive and versatile silversmith John Coney satisfied the growing demand for impressive silver with some of the most beautiful and complex pieces of his era. His wares were sought after not only by Bostonians, but also by patrons as distant as Connecticut and New York.

From the 2019 exhibition American Art, Colonial to Modern, curated by Barbara J. MacAdam, Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art

Course History

HIST 9.1, Empires and Colonies in North America, Paul Musselwhite, Fall 2014

Exhibition History

American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Jaffe Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 9-December 9, 2007.

American Art, Colonial to Modern, Israel Sack Gallery and Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019-September 12, 2021.

American Arts of the 18th Century, Colby College Art Museum, Waterville, Maine, August 7-September 30, 1967.

American Decorative Art at Dartmouth, Barrows Print Room, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 10-March 1, 1981, no. 7.

An Exhibition of American silver and Art Treasures, English Speaking Union at Christie's Great Rooms, London, England, August-September 1960.

Colonial Days, Brick Store Museum, Kennebunkport, Maine, July 30-August 3, 1963.

Ellis Memorial Antiques Show, Paul Revere Life Insurance Company's Paul Revere Collection, Worcester, Massachusetts, October 30-November 4, 1961.

Exhibition of Silversmiths by John Coney, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, 1932.

Harrington Silver Case, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 16-June 2, 1978.

Harrington Silver Case, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 30-June 21, 1979.

Harrington Silver Case, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 1-30, 1964.

Harrington Silver Case, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 14-August 15, 1976.

Harrington Silver Case, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 15, 1976-January 28, 1977.

Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 22, 1991-June 22, 1997.

Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 2, 2009-present.

Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 16, 1997-May 8, 2007.

Massachusetts Silver of the Colonial Period, Strauss Gallery, Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 1972.

New England Silver at Dartmouth College: A Tribute to Frank L. Harrington, Class of 1924, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 3-August 20, 1989, no. 18.

The New England Silversmith, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhose Island, October 23-November 28, 1965.

Publication History

Barbara J. MacAdam, New England Silver at Dartmouth College: A Tribute to Frank L. Harrington, Class of 1924, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 1989, no. 18.

Margaret J. Moody, American Decorative Arts at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 1981, no. 7.

Colby College Art Museum, American Arts of the 18th Century, Boston, Massachusetts: Thomas Todd Company, July 1967, no. E11.

Hugh J. Gourley, The New England Silversmith, Providence, Rhode Island: Rhode Island School of Design, 1965, no. 50.

Kathryn C. Buhler, Massachusetts Silver in the Frank L. and Louise C. Harrington Collection, Worcester, Massachusetts: Barre Publishers, 1965, p. 24-27, ill. p. 25, p. 27.

Kathryn C. Buhler, American Silver and Art Treasures, London: English Speaking Union, 1960, no. 24.

Herman Frederick Clarke, John Coney Silversmith, 1655-1722, Boston, Masachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 1932.

E. Alfred Jones, The Old Silver of American Churches, Letchworth, England: Arden Press, 1913, p. 322.

Patricia E. Kane, Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewlers, Hanover: University Press of New England, p. 315-328, 1998.

Barbara J. MacAdam, American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Muesum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2007, p. 184, no. 153.

Provenance

Ex-Collection: Checkley family, Wolfe family, St. George's Church, Newport, Rhode Island (successor, 1885, to Zion's Church), Guy Warren Walker Jr. (1894-1978), 1951; sold to Frank L. Harrington, Sr. (1902-1988) and Louise Cronin Harrington (1904-2000), Worcester, Massachusetts, December 1959; given to present collection, 1971.

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