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Tea kettle on stand
Jacob Hurd (American, 1702 or 1703–1758)
1730–40
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Silver, ivory
Dimensions
Overall: 36.5 x 19.1 cm (14 3/8 x 7 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Esther Lowell Abbott in memory of her mother, Esther Lowell Cunningham, granddaughter of James Russell Lowell
Accession Number1971.347a-b
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsSilver hollowware
Catalogue Raisonné
Buhler, 1972, No. 543
Marks
"IHURD" in a cartouche- bottom, at center point
"Hurd" in semi-script in an oval- on lid, near vent hole
"Hurd" in semi-script in an oval- on lid, near vent hole
InscriptionsLowell quartering Leversedge; Lowell crest and Lowell motto: "OCCAIONEM COGNOSGE" -- coat of arms added later, in 19th century
Scratched inside cover: "1730"
Scratched inside cover: "1730"
ProvenanceThere can be no doubt from its style and the dates of the maker and owner-family that this was originally the property of the Reverend John Lowell (1704-1767). Born in Boston, he was graduated from Harvard College in 1721 and competed with Ebenezer Turell for the Medford pulpit (see Cat. no. 124). In August 1725 he was called to Newbury and on December 12 of that year married Sarah, daughter of Noah and Sarah (Tunnell) Champney. His father, Ebenezer, the fourth generation of the family in this country and the first to be born here, in 1675, died in 1711; his only surviving son, "The Old Judge," was born in 1743. Delmar Lowell, writing the family genealogy in 1899, reported that the Reverand was "a thrifty man financially and was frequently a purchaser of property as the records abundantly attest." He is credited with having added the motto Occasionem Cognosce to the family coat of arms. Percival Lowle (1571-1664), who came from Somersetshire and was in New England in 1639 was entitled to the arms. It was his grandmother's Leveredge arms that were selected for quartering. James Russell Lowell wrote from Elmwood in Cambridge- the manuscript letter reproduced by Delmar Lowell- on July 12, 1895: "I believe we have the right to quarter Levesege, one of our forbears having married an heiress of that name. Theirs is a very pretty coat, three dolphins passant..." Elsewhere, and in heraldry books, the name is spelled Leversedge. Guillim depicts neither coat.