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Salver
Timothy Dwight (1664–1691 or 1692)
about 1680–90
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
Overall: 8.1 x 9.4 x 28.7 cm (3 3/16 x 3 11/16 x 11 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Dudley Leavitt Pickman
Accession Number31.227
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsSilver hollowware
Dwight, who apprenticed with Hull and Sanderson, died at the age of thirty-eight from "a sore and languishing sickness." One of only two surviving objects bearing his mark, this salver also is distinguished by its beautifully engraved border, with a camel, lion, elephant, and unicorn separated by scrolling leaves and carnations. The identity of the engraver may have been Dwight or an unidentified specialist. The engraving's source is a type of naturalistic floral ornament used in Germany as early as 1650 and brought to the New World through immigrant craftsmen and transported prints.
Catalogue Raisonné
Buhler, 1972, No. 26
DescriptionBroad-rimmed plate on trumpet foot. Engraved with elaborate design of flowers & animals
Marks
TD six pellets below in rose form in heart shaped punch on rim
InscriptionsInitials TMB over prickwork design, script RP on bottom
ProvenancePossibly made for Mary and Thomas Barton (1). (2) By descent to Sally Pickman Loring Dwight (1859-1913); May 5, 1916 lent by the Estate of Sally Pickman Dwight; May 17, 1918, transferred to the estate of their son Lawrence Dwight (1896-1918); June 28, 1918, returned to estate of Lawrence Dwight; by descent to his cousin; March 17, 1920, lent by Mrs. Dudley Leavitt Pickman to MFA; 1931, gift of Mr and Mrs Dudley Leavitt Pickman to MFA. (Accession date: May 7, 1931)
1: Granddaughter of Francis Willoughby (deputy governor of Massachusetts, 1665-1671), Mary m. Thomas Barton, 1710; in 1758 he bequeathed "unto my dearly beloved wife.. All her Maiden Plate as a Tanckard Spoons ect and as moch more as she may want to be useful for her."
2: Mary and Francis Willoughby's daughter Mary m. Dr. Bezaleel Toppan; their daughter Mary (1744-1817), m. Benjamin Pickman IV (1740-1819); his aunt, Rachel, may be the RP inititals; Benjamin IV's son Thomas (1773-1817), m. second Sophia Palmer (1786-1862); their daughter Mary Toppan (1816-1878), m. Dr. George Bailey Loring, 1851; their daughter Sally Pickman Loring (1859-1913), m. Theodore F. Dwight.
1: Granddaughter of Francis Willoughby (deputy governor of Massachusetts, 1665-1671), Mary m. Thomas Barton, 1710; in 1758 he bequeathed "unto my dearly beloved wife.. All her Maiden Plate as a Tanckard Spoons ect and as moch more as she may want to be useful for her."
2: Mary and Francis Willoughby's daughter Mary m. Dr. Bezaleel Toppan; their daughter Mary (1744-1817), m. Benjamin Pickman IV (1740-1819); his aunt, Rachel, may be the RP inititals; Benjamin IV's son Thomas (1773-1817), m. second Sophia Palmer (1786-1862); their daughter Mary Toppan (1816-1878), m. Dr. George Bailey Loring, 1851; their daughter Sally Pickman Loring (1859-1913), m. Theodore F. Dwight.