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Coffeepot

Mark of: Thomas Rush (English (London), free 1722, first mark 1724–before about 1773)
English (London)
1745/1746

Medium/Technique Silver, wood handle
Dimensions Height x width (over spout and handle): 10 3/4 x 10 in. (27.3 x 25.4 cm)
Credit Line Gift of Peter B. and Beverly Sills Greenough
Accession Number2007.251
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSilver
Representative of an elegant English Rococo form and type of decoration, this coffeepot bears a distinguished Boston provenance. It is engraved with the coat of arms of John Hancock, (1737-1793), first governor of Massachusetts, and, by tradition, was presented by his widow to Sarah Greenough, her grand-niece, and then passed by descent.

ProvenanceProbably John Hancock (b. 1737 - d. 1793), Boston; by inheritance to his widow, Dorothy Quincy Hancock (b. 1747 - d. 1830), Boston; given by Dorothy Quincy Hancock to her grand-niece, Sarah Gardner Greenough (b. 1798), Boston [see note 1]; by descent within the family to Peter B. and Beverly Sills Greenough, New York; 2007, gift of the Greenoughs to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 21, 2007)

NOTES:
[1] The coffee pot is engraved with the Hancock coat-of-arms and inscribed: "Presented by John Hancock's widow to her grand-niece, Sarah Greenough."