Advanced Search 
Tankard
Edward Winslow (American, 1669–1753)
1700–10
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
17.5 x 12.8 x 19.2 cm (6 7/8 x 5 1/16 x 7 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift in memory of John Bryant Paine and Louise Frazer Paine from their children and grandchildren
Accession Number1980.242
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsSilver hollowware
About twenty-four tankards bearing Winslow’s mark are known, most dated between 1700 and 1730. The tankard for the Paine family of Eastham, Massachusetts — with its plain body and flat lid, handle accented with a cast dolphin-and-mask thumbpiece, and cherub terminal — is characteristic of many that Winslow made.
Family history records that this tankard was originally owned by Thomas and Mary Paine, who were married in 1650. If they did purchase it, they acquired it some forty years after their marriage, an unusual acquisition made late in their lives.
This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.
Family history records that this tankard was originally owned by Thomas and Mary Paine, who were married in 1650. If they did purchase it, they acquired it some forty years after their marriage, an unusual acquisition made late in their lives.
This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.
DescriptionThe raised tankard with straight tapering sides has a center point on base. The drawn and stepped base molding rises to an applied everted rim; a pair of scored lines appears below the lip. The raised, two-stepped, flat-topped lid also has a center punch; two pairs of scored lines encircle the rim, and there is a crenate lip. The cast thumbpiece consists of a pair of dolphins flanking a circular mask of a mustachioed man; meander wire is below. The five-part hinge has a cast linen-fold hingeplate, again with meander wire below. The raised and seamed scroll handle is attached to the body with a long rattail drop at upper join. The terminus is a cast winged cherub’s head; a coarse triangular air vent is below. The lid and stepped section near hinge have been reworked. The handle bears significant wear marks consistent with contact to thumbpiece.
Marks
On lid and to left of handle is marked "EW" within a shaped mark over a fleur-de-lis.
InscriptionsEngraved "P / T M " in shaded roman capitals on handle.
ProvenanceAccording to family history and the engraved initials, the tankard was made for Thomas Paine (1612 – 1706) of Yarmouth and Eastham, Massachusetts, who in 1650 m. Mary Snow (1627 – 1704), daughter of Nicholas (1602 – 1676) and Constance (Hopkins) Snow (about 1605 – 1677) of Eastham. However, it is more likely the tankard was first owned by their son James (1665 – 1728) and his wife, Bethiah Thacher (1671 – 1734). The tankard passed by descent to their son the Rev. Thomas Paine (1694 – 1757) and Eunice Treat (1704 – 1747), thence to Thomas’s son Robert Treat Paine (1731 – 1814), a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and his wife, Sarah (Sally) Cobb (1740 – 1816). The tankard briefly entered the matrilineal line when it was given to Paine’s eldest daughter, Mary (1780 – 1842), m. the Rev. Elisha Clap (also Clapp) (1783 – 1869). As the couple had no issue, the tankard returned to the patrilineal line when it was inherited by their nephew Charles Cushing Paine (1808 – 1874) and his wife, Fanny Cabot Jackson (1812 – 1878). The tankard was given to their son Charles Jackson Paine (1833 – 1916) and his wife, Julia Lee Bryant (1847 – 1901), and thence to their son John Bryant Paine (1870 – 1951). The tankard was made a gift in honor of John Bryant Paine and his wife, Louise Rue Frazer (1879 – 1968), by their children and grandchildren: Helen Sumner Paine Dickson; Caroline Satterthwait Paine Ganson; Julia Lee Paine Wakefield; her children Elizabeth W. Doermann, Julia W. Proctor, Joan W. Millspaugh, and Sarah K. Wakefield; Louise Frazer Paine Erickson; Sarah Cushing Paine Forbes; Henrietta N. Paine.