Salver
Dateca.1776-1796
Maker
Joseph Toy (1748-1826)
MediumSilver
DimensionsDiameter: 11"; Height: 1 1/8"
Credit LineBequest of Joseph H. and June S. Hennage
Object number2020-278
DescriptionSilver salver with applied beaded border and a shaped edge, standing on four openwork triangular supports with pad feet.Label TextOriginally from Burlington, New Jersey, Toy learned the trade from Trenton silversmith John Fitch. By the late 1770s he had set up shop in Abingdon, Maryland and was producing flatware in addition to trays, teapots, and covered sugar bowls. Though this example is the only known salver by Toy, two of his surviving teapot stands have nearly identical beaded edges and padded triangular feet.By the end of the eighteenth century Toy had left the trade, but not before he taught silversmithing to his son Isaac Nicholas Toy. In 1801 he became a Methodist minister, and followed the calling of an itinerant preacher until 1819. He died seven years later, having fathered a total of thirteen children between two wives, and leaving behind precious few pieces of his silverwork.Inscription(s)Center of top engraved with "WSS" cypher in floreated script.Mark(s)Bottom struck three times with "IT" in relief within a rectangle surrounding the center punch.ProvenanceEx. Coll. Mrs. William H. (Elizabeth Graham) Whitridge as of 1930. Purchased at auction, Adam A. Wechsler & Son, Inc., (Washington D.C.), May 24, 1970, Lot 947.
