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Description
This tall, engraved silver beaker is very similar to a much-admired one produced by colonial New York silversmith Cornelius Vander Burch (Vander Burgh) at the Yale University Art Gallery (1932.100). However, this one is a fake. It has no history of ownership before the 1950s. Visual and scientific analysis provide ample evidence that the beaker is made from modern silver. The genuine beaker was first published in 1929 before being donated to Yale and then again in 1935 with multiple illustrations of the engraved details. To appeal to the collector’s desire for early colonial silver, the forgers even engraved a woman’s name and the date of 1680.