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Maine Antique Digest, April 2015 23-D
- AUCTION -
This was cataloged as an American silver bookplate . It
depicts the Decatur family on one side and the Deca-
tur coat of arms on the other, engraved by Henry
Dawkins, New York, circa 1783. It’s probably
not a bookplate but a commemorative token
made for the family. It sold for $25,000 (est.
$7000/10000) to James Kochan. At Christie’s
in 2005, it sold for $38,400 to Jonathan Trace
for Ruth Nutt. The portrait of the Decatur
family in front of an open window with two
ships in the distance is above an inscrip-
tion “To Mrs. Ann Decatur/ This Design
is Inscribed by Her Ob. Humb. Servt. H.
Dawkins,” and the reverse is engraved with
the Decatur arms and motto and the inscrip-
tion “The Arms of the Ancient Family of Deca-
tur,” set within a gilt frame and floral matting.
The plate measures 3"; the overall frame 6 1/8".
According to family tradition, this bookplate passed
from Captain Stephen Decatur to his son Commodore Ste-
phen Decatur, who died without issue. The bookplate then passed to
Commodore Decatur’s brother, Colonel John Pine Decatur (1786-
1832), and then by descent to the consignor in the 2005 sale. The most
illustrious member of the Decatur family, Commodore Stephen Deca-
tur, is notable for his naval victories in the Barbary Wars in North
Africa, the Quasi-War with France, and the War of 1812. He became
the youngest man to reach the rank of captain in the history of the
U.S. Navy, and in 1816, he was appointed to the Board of Navy Com-
missioners in Washington, where he built an impressive Federal res-
idence designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Decatur was mortally
wounded in a duel in 1820. His Washington residence is now the Deca-
tur House museum. Henry Dawkins emigrated from England to New
York after 1750 and became one of America’s most important early
engravers. He made the first engraving of the New York state coat-of-
arms, and his 1762 engraving of a view of Princeton College is one of
the earliest views of that school. He also established himself in Phila-
delphia. Dawkins also was known for counterfeiting paper money and
was imprisoned in White Plains. After he was released he returned to
Philadelphia, where he continued work as an engraver, with a consid-
erable trade in bookplates.
An American silver tankard by
John Bayly, Philadelphia,
circa 1775, engraved with the
cipher “CSM” for Christo-
pher and Sarah Marshall
and engraved on the handle
“PM” for Patience Marshall
(their granddaughter), base
marked “I. BAYLY” and
“IB” in rounded rectangle
left of handle on body, 33 oz.
7 7/8" high, sold for $87,500
(est. $20,000/30,000) to
Jonathan Trace in the
salesroom, underbid by
Sotheby’s John Ward on
the phone.
An American silver child’s whistle
and bells, with the mark of Paul
Revere II, circa 1770, with fittings
for eight silver bells and coral
teething stick, engraved “M.I” in
block letters, “Iackson” in script on
mouthpiece, marked “PR” in script
in rectangle,
sold to Tim Martin
of S.J. Shrubsole for $21,250 (est.
$12,000/18,000). Another whistle
by Revere is at the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston.
Basting spoon by
Peter Van Dyck, New
York,
1720,
with
the initials “P+K”
together with a gold
ring engraved with
mirror cipher “PK,”
marked on the back
of the bowl “V/P.D”
in a trefoil, the ring
unmarked, spoon, 6
oz. 10 dwt., 16" long,
sold for $6875 (est.
$6000/8000) to Tim
Martin of S.J. Shrub-
sole, New York.
Tim Martin and Jon-
athan Trace competed
for this silver pipe lighter, Myer
Myers, New York, 1750-65, until
Ron Bourgeault entered the compe-
tition and bought it for $46,875 (est.
$10,000/15,000). Its base is engraved “C
over P * L,” and it’s marked “Myers” in
a conforming cartouche. Weighing 6 oz. 5 dwt.,
and standing 10 7/8" long, it belonged to Philip Liv-
ingston, a merchant, public servant, and signer of the
Declaration of Independence. It was exhibited at the Myer
Myers exhibition in 2001.
A large coffeepot, marked by Bancroft Woodcock,
Wilmington, Delaware, circa 1784, sold for
$62,500 (est. $50,000/80,000) in the sales-
room to dealer James Kilvington of Green-
ville, Delaware. It is engraved
on the side with large foli-
ate monogram “JCR” and
marked twice on the base
“B.W.” in a shaped rectangle
and scratched “1784.” Stand-
ing 14½" high, it weighs 41 oz.
15 dwt. The “R” initial may be
for a relative of Richard Rich-
ardson, a Newport miller, who
was one of Woodcock’s biggest
clients in the 1770s.
The cover lot, a tankard by Joseph
Richardson Sr., Philadelphia,
circa 1760, 32 oz. 5 dwt., bal-
uster form with mid-band,
open thumbpiece, the base
engraved “R E / to / H W”
and “IR”
in a rectangle twice,
8 3/8" high, sold for $22,500
(est.
$12,000/18,000).
At
Christie’s in June 1991, it
sold for $8800.
Thomas Fletcher, Philadelphia,
hot water urn, 1830-35,
with grapevine handles
and upper decoration, the
lower body with palm and
acanthus, the spigot topped
with a bird, monogrammed
on back “JHS,” marked
on the base rim and up
under the base “T. Fletcher/
PHILA,” stamped on base
“OLD SILVER.” It was in
the Fletcher and Gardiner
exhibition 2007-08 at the
Metropolitan Museum of
Art and Winterthur. With
a Hirschl & Adler prove-
nance, it sold for $56,250
(est. $12,000/18,000).
Silver soup tureen and cover
by Thomas Fletcher,
Philadelphia, 1833,
on a shaped base with
claw feet, the lower
body with acanthus
and palm leaves, handles
terminating in eagle’s heads,
on one side engraved with
Webster coat of arms and on the
other side engraved “Daniel Web-
ster,” marked underneath, “T.
FLETCHER/ PHILAD,”
14"
wide, 122 oz. 10 dwt., exhibited
in the 2007-08 Fletcher and
Gardiner exhibition. Webster’s
first wife was a third cousin of
Thomas Fletcher. With a Jonathan
Trace provenance, the tureen sold on the
phone for $59,375 (est. $30,000/50,000) to
the buyer of the hot water urn.
An American gold-mounted War of 1812 eagle-pommel presenta-
tion sword, Fletcher and Gardiner, Philadelphia, dated 1828,
32½" long, sold for $257,000 (est. $150,00/250,000) to Ann
Wagner, Winterthur curator of metals and coauthor with
Donald Fennimore of the 2007 book
Silversmiths to the
Nation: Thomas Fletcher and Sidney Gardiner 1808-
1842
. The underbidder was dealer James Kochan in the
salesroom who said he was bidding for a client. The
presentation inscription: “Presented By The State Of
Maryland To/ Lieut. Henry C. Ballard, March 1828
as the/ reward of Patriotism and Valor.” It is one of
three swords the state of Maryland ordered from
Fletcher and Gardiner for heroes of the
War of 1812.
Coffeepot by Myer Myers,
New York, 1760, pear form
with elaborate cast spout, the
side slightly later engraved with
small foliate monogram “SE,”
marked “Myers” in script twice
on bottom, 10 7/8", weighing 32
oz. 10 dwt., with a Jonathan Trace
provenance, sold on the phone
for $93,750 (est. $40,000/60,000).
An American silver coffeepot, made by
Joseph Richardson Sr., Philadelphia,
circa 1760, acanthus-capped spout
terminating in a larger
shell, wood scroll han-
dle headed by a shell,
base engraved with
block initials “H*S” and
later engraved “Stamper,”
marked four times on base
“IR” in rectangle and twice
“Sterling” in script in rect-
angle. Standing 10¾" tall and
weighing 35 oz. 15 dwt., it sold
for $56,250 (est. $25,000/35,000).
It is unusual for American silver
to be marked sterling, but there
was an unsuccessful attempt to
establish an assay office in Phila-
delphia between 1753 and 1770.
Gold-headed cane,
1750-60, engraved
“The Gift of Coll.
Littlehales to Thos.
Hancock,” with a later
disk engraved “The
gift of Gover. Hancock
to J Avery. Esq.,” 44¼"
long. Thomas Hancock
gave this English cane
to his nephew John
Hancock, the governor
of Massachusetts, and
John Hancock gave it to
John Avery Jr. (1739-
1896), the first Massa-
chusetts secretary of
the
Commonwealth,
and it is descended in
the Avery family. It
sold for $21,250 (est.
$7000/10,000) to dealer
James Kochan in the salesroom.
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