Object Number 1986.0166

Object Name

Medal (Peace Medal)

Title

Columbia and Washington. Commanded by J. Kendrick

Category

Metals

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Mrs. Alexander O. Vietor in memory of Alexander O. Vietor

Creator (Role)

Joseph Callender (Probable maker)
05/06/1751-11/10/1821

Paul Revere Jr. (Possible maker)
12/21/1734-05/10/1818
Paul Revere, son of a silversmith with the same name, apprenticed to his father in 1747. His father died in 1754, before Paul could complete his training. Although he was legally too young to inherit the business, he remained active there until he was twenty one, when he assumed control. During the ensuing five decades, Revere and his employees produced hundreds of household, personal, ceremonial, and commemorative silver artifacts for well-to-do Bostonians. Revere's daybooks record that he fabricated twenty-five ladles between 1781 and 1797, calling them tureen ladle, soup ladle, and in one instance, scalloped tureen ladle. For the most part, he made one in any given year, except for 1795, when he fashioned five, and 1796, when he made six.

Place of Origin

Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, New England, United States, North America

Date

1787

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Inscription; Obverse; "COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON. COMMANDED BY J. KENDRICK." stuck integral
2. Inscription; Reverse; "BY / J.BARRELL, / S.BROWN, C.BULFINCH, / J.DARBY, C.HATCH / J.M.PINTARD. / 1787."

Subjects

Transportation; Nautical; Native American; Indigenous peoples

Materials

Silver

Dimensions (inches)

1.68 (Diam) , 1.06 (Weight)

Dimensions (centimeters)

4.28 (Diam) , 30 (Weight)

Measurement Notes

Weight includes lacquer coating.

Object Description

Web - 07/10/2015

This silver medal commemorates the September 1787 merchant venture from Boston to the northern Pacific Ocean conducted by Captain John Kendrick of the Columbia Redivia and Captain Robert Gray of the Lady Washington and their crews. The Boston and Salem investors named on the reverse are Joseph Barrell, Samuel Brown, Charles Bulfinch, John Derby, Crowel Hatch, and John Marsden Pintard. In 1790, when the Columbia Redivia returned, under the command of Captain Gray, the voyage that began in Boston had reached China and continued westward to circumnavigate the globe. This is one of five known silver medals to survive. It is likely they were produced for presentation to investors rather than the more numerous pewter medals struck for distribution to Indigenous leaders during the voyage. The designer and maker of the medals remains elusive, but the Massachusetts Mint diesinker and engraver, Joseph Callender likely had a role in production overseen by investor Joseph Barrell.