Tankard

Museum Object Number 1956.0084

Object Name

Tankard

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Mr. Charles K. Davis

Creator (Role)

Cornelius Kierstede (Maker)

Creator Notes

As per Darling, New York State Silversmiths, p. 111: Cornelius Kierstede married in 1703. (L. Clouser, cataloguer, 03/02/2011)

Date of Birth

December 25, 1674

Date of Death

1757

Place of Origin

New York or New Haven., New York or Connecticut, Mid-Atlantic or Mid-Atlantic, United States, North America

Date

1710-1730

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Lid, upper surface; "CK" stamped in a rectangle
2. Mark; Body, left of handle; "CK" stamped in a rectangle
3. Mark; Body, right of handle; "CK" stamped in a rectangle
4. Inscription; Lid, upper surface; "SJR" or "RJS" engraved
5. Inscription; Handle; "S / R*J" engraved
6. Inscription; Underside; "35=oünse A°" engraved

Subjects

Armorial device

Materials

Silver

Techniques

Wrought, Cast, Engraved, Cut, Molded

Dimensions (inches)

7.362 (H) , 8.661 (L) , 5.669 (W) , 37.602 (Weight)

Dimensions (centimeters)

18.7 (H) , 22 (L) , 14.4 (W) , 1066 (Weight)

Object Description

Web -

This generous, weighty tankard ornamented with a regal lion, an angelic cherub head, and engraving indicating several owners is the only example of Cornelius Kierstede's silver at Winterthur. The shape and applied ornament clearly anchor it in the early decades of the 1700s, when the silversmith masterfully created forms and designs that appealed to Anglo and Dutch patrons in New York city, Albany, and New Haven. The specific ownership history for this richly engraved treasure of silver patrimony is elusive. The reflexive initials on the lid appear to be the same as those on the handle, probably the surname "S" for a man whose name begins with "R" and his wife whose name begins with "J," This tankard's similarity to another one by Kierstede in the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation collection suggests it may have been for an Albany or New York patron, but the slightly later addition of a diamond-shape (lozenge) armorial device on the tankard's front may indicate ownership history in Connecticut, where the tankard was acquired by the donor. Scholars speculate that the armorial, which is identical to one used by Jane Still, the daughter of the prominent English Bishop John Still and widow of Sir Francis Pile, 2nd Baronet, was adopted by a colonial owner with the surname Still or Sill.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Book] Quimby, Ian M. G. 1995 American Silver at Winterthur.
• Published: p. 257-8, no. 221
[Book] Fales, Martha Gandy. 1973 Early American Silver.
• Published: p. 138, fig. no. 133
[Book] Fales, Martha Gandy. 1970 Early American Silver for the Cautious Collector.
• Published: p. 239, fig. 199a
[Article] Wahlberg, Katherine A. 01//2008 Cornelius Kierstede Colonial Silversmith. Antiques. 202-211.
• Published: p. 208, figs. 9, 9a
[Book] Guillim, John. 1724 Display of Heraldry.
• See p. 439 in the 1724 edition
[Article] Fennimore, Donald L. 1983 Cornelius Kierstede Tankard. Silver Magazine. 15 (May-June)
• Published: pp. 30-32
[Article] Fennimore, Donald L. 06//1982 Notable New York Silver From the 17th to the 20th Century. Art and Antiques Magazine. 42-47.
• Published: p. 44