Collection Highlights
The Indian Hunter
1860
1939.390
Brown patinated bronze
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Salver
Object name
Salver
Date
1772-1773
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
Overall: 1 1/2 x 21 3/4 in. ( 3.8 x 55.2 cm )
Silver Weight: 95 oz (troy) 5 dwt (2962 g)
Description
Wrought silver presentation salver; circular tray with raised, nine lobed sides with an applied molded and gadrooned rim; floral border engraved around the edge of the tray; center of the tray engraved with the Seal of the City of New York, windmill blades divide two beavers and two cider barrels, engraved around this, "This Piece of Plate is the Gift of His Exely. Govr. Tryon, the Genel.: Assemy.: of New-York, to Capt. Sowers Engineer. 13 Mar.h 1773" in roman letters, between a man in Colonial dress holding a plumb line and a Native American holding a bow, each with one hand raised, colonial man touching a fleet of ships, Native American touching a wooded area; seal surmounted by a crown and foliate scrolls and above a banner engraved, "SIGILL/ CIVITAT * NOV/ EBORA" over crossed cannons and military and engineering implements; tray applied to three cast hairy paw feet with five claws, one back, four forward, around a circular bar; descent of the salver engraved on the reverse; maker's mark stamped on the base.
Credit Line
Gift of J. Lawrence Aspinwall
Object Number
1928.24
Marks
Mark: stamped on the base: "L. Feuter" in script in a conforming rectangle @ reverse near bottom right foot
Inscription: engraved script at reverse on the base: This piece of plate/ was given to Captain Thomas Sowers in 1773,/ who gave it to his daughter/ Ann,/ wife of Gilbert Aspinwall,/ who gave it to her daughter,/ Sarah Ann,/ wife of James Lawrence Moore,/ who gave it to her nephew,/ James Lawrence Aspinwall, (great grandson of Captain Thomas Sowers,)/ who presented it to his wife/ Mary Morris Carnochan,/ on their wedding day/ June 4th 1891./ James Lawrence Aspinwall/ Presents this plate to/ the New York Historical Society/ January 17th, 1928."
Mark: scratch weight @ reverse "Oz. dwt./97.9"
Gallery Label
This salver, a masterpiece of colonial American presentation silver, is embellished with extraordinary engraving that depicts the seal of the City of New York. On March 13, 1773, Royal Governor William Tryon and the General Assembly of New York presented the salver to British military engineer Captain Thomas Sowers in recognition of his work repairing the Battery at the lower end of Manhattan Island, a critical site for the defense of the colonies.
Bibliography
Hofer, Margaret K. "Seventeenth-and eighteenth-century family silver." The Magazine Antiques 167 (2005): 156-161.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
