A Handsome Cupboard of Plate
Early American Silver in the Cahn Collection
Deborah Dependahl Waters
with an appreciation by David L.Barquist
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Obtainable from any good bookseller or from: |
John Adamson:
90 Hertford Street, Cambridge CB4 3AQ, UK.
e-mail: Book orders
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Distributed in the United States and Canada by:
| ACC Publishing Group, New York
e-mail: Book orders
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The Cahn collection of early American domestic and
presentation silver celebrates both American history
and craftsmanship. Significant works by such masters as
Jeremiah Dummer and Paul Revere Jr. of Boston and
Joseph Richardson Sr. of Philadelphia are examined
and products of the New York workshops of Jewish
silversmith Myer Myers and his contemporaries are
featured. The first comprehensive catalogue of the
American silver owned by Paul and Elissa Cahn,
this book accompanies a national touring exhibition
organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. |
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Strength in design and fineness of craftsmanship unify the handsome cupboard
of early American domestic and presentation silver assembled by Paul and Elissa Cahn over some thirty years and brought
together for the first time in this book. The Cahns’ understanding of both the course of American history and the
history of silversmiths’ work in the colonies and new nation has undoubtedly informed their choices. Beginning in
Boston with a caudle cup of about 1690 marked by Jeremiah Dummer, America’s first native-born silversmith, and
objects from the shop of patriot silversmith Paul Revere Jr. (1734–1818), the collection proceeds to focus on New York,
where a distinctive style reflective of the Dutch heritage of that region emerged, and then on Philadelphia, where generations
of the Quaker Richardson family supplied goods of the “best sort, but plain” to their clientele.
Pride of place is given to the work of New York Jewish silversmith Myer Myers (1723–1795) and his contemporaries,
including an extraordinary presentation waiter made for Theodorus Van Wyck in about 1768 by the Myers shop, and a
unique set of four candlesticks marked by Samuel Tingley Jr., made between 1762 and 1767.
This book accompanies a touring exhibition of more than fifty items from the Cahn collection. Organized by the
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, the exhibition elegantly reflects some of the remarkable
ethnic, religious, and political diversity of early America, setting the craftsmanship and artistry of
silversmiths working at that time in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia in their social and historical context.
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Foreword by Kaywin Feldman
Director and President, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Acknowledgments
The Cahn Collection of Early American Silver: An Appreciation by David L. Barquist
The H. Richard Dietrich Jr. Curator of American Decorative Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art
“A Handsome Cupboard of Plate”: Early American Silver and Silversmiths. An Introduction
Catalogue
Note to the reader
I
II
III
| Boston
New York
Philadelphia
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Frequent Bibliographical References and Note on Digital Resources
Photographic Credits
Index
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DEBORAH DEPENDAHL WATERS is an independent historian of
American decorative arts, specializing in silver and furniture of the Mid-Atlantic region.
Since 1987 she has been a member of the part-time teaching faculty for the Parsons-Cooper-Hewitt M.A.
Program in the History of Decorative Arts and Design, and is currently president of New York Silver
Society, Inc. Following employment with Winterthur Museum, Library, and Garden (Winterthur, Delaware),
Christie’s New York, and the New York State Council on the Arts, she became Senior Curator of Decorative
Arts and Manuscripts at the Museum of the City of New York in 1986, an appointment she held until 2008.
She is the editor and an author of Elegant Plate: Three Centuries of Precious Metals in New York City (2000),
and a contributor to Art in the Empire City: New York, 1825–1861 (2000), and (2007), as well as lead author of The Jewelry and Metalwork
of Marie Zimmermann (2011).
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This book was published in conjunction with the touring exhibition
A Handsome Cupboard of Plate: Early American Silver in the Cahn Collection organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The venues were:
- Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota: December 1, 2012–March 24, 2013
- Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri: April 20, 2013–November 3, 2013
- Missouri History Museum, St Louis, Missouri: November 23, 2013–March 2, 2014
- The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia: May 3, 2014–May 25, 2015
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‘[A] handsome display of colonial era serving pieces -- tea and coffee pots, beer tankards, porringers,
sauce boats, trays, candleholders -- handmade by some of the era’s most distinguished craftsmen, including Paul Revere of Boston, Myer Myers of
New York and the Richardson family of Philadelphia’
Mary Abbe, Star Tribune, Minneapolis (full article)
‘There are plenty of notes and references, an index, and a well-written introduction to the collection that
discusses makers, forms, styles, and marks.’
Maine Antique Digest, April 2013
‘A commendable exhibition catalogue ... [Deborah Dependahl Waters] uses the objects from the Cahn collection
to weave a narrative of early American silver and silversmiths in her introductory essay, which is followed by 39 detailed entries full of concise
and piercing analysis.’
Monica Obniski, Apollo, April 2013
‘This beautifully produced volume contains a great deal of information, much of which will be completely new
to the students of English silver.’
Charles Truman, Silver Studies, 2013
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Contact the publisher for further information:
e-mail: book enquiries,
letter: John Adamson, 90 Hertford Street, Cambridge
CB4 3AQ, England
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Please print off the order form and
send it by mail to John Adamson, 90 Hertford Street, Cambridge CB4 3AQ, England.
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