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Small silver beaker-shaped mug with C-shaped handle and reinforced foot ring. Foot ring and handle have ribbed decoration. Base of handle curls upward. Engraved beaver with fish in mouth appears opposite handle. Impressed maker's mark appears between engraving and handle. Mark is shield-shaped with crown over initials "IE" with cross below. Owner's initials engraved in base: "F/II".
mugs
engraving (printing process)
hammering
impressing
silver (metal)
soldering
Mug
"Cherished Possessions": From the seventeenth century through most of the eighteenth, Boston, Massachusetts, was the center of silver making in America. John Burt was one of the city's most prosperous silversmiths in the first half of the eighteenth century, a slave owner, and an extensive real estate speculator, who trained three sons as silversmiths. Burt made silver items for numerous churches from Charlestown, Massachusetts, to Exeter, New Hampshire, as well as for Harvard University and many individual clients. He made this mug for John and Jerusha Fayerweather around 1730.
Impressed and engraved on side: Impressed: ""IE"" Engraved: ""F/II""
Burt, John, 1692-1745-46 (Silversmith)
2 1/8 x 3 1/2 (HxW) (inches)
Bequest of Eleanor Fayerweather
1993.650
Fennimore, Donald L., Author. The Knopf Collectors' Guides: Silver & Pewter. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.
Massachusetts (United States)
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