Samuel Hamlin Tankard
Dateca. 1770-1780
Maker
Samuel Hamlin Sr.
1746 - 1801
MediumPewter
DimensionsHeight: 7 3/4"; Width across handle and body: 6 7/8"; Diameter at foot: 4 1/2"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund
Object number2025-29
DescriptionQuart tankard with a tapered straight-sided cylindrical body, moulding at rim, a fillet mid-band below center, and multiple mouldings at base. Its round-topped double-domed circular cover has a narrow projecting flange and is attached to a "chair back" thumbpiece. The hollow handle is of S-scroll form with a D-shaped section and a bud terminal.Label TextSamuel Hamlin, born in Middletown, CT in September 1746, got his start in the metalware business by training under Thomas Danforth II and Jacob Whitmore. By 1767 he was in partnership with fellow Middletownian Benjamin Henshaw in Hartford and advertising themselves as braziers and pewterers. After a year or so at Hartford, the pair headed back to Middletown to ply their trade. In late 1773, when the partnership dissolved, Hamlin left for Providence, RI, and set up shop there, where he remained for the rest of his career as a pewterer, and dying there in 1801.Though numerous mugs by Hamlin survive, his tankards are exceedingly rare, and this example stands to exhibit the level of skill its creator attained. It is the only New-England made pewter tankard in Colonial Williamsburg's collection.Mark(s)Bottom interior struck with "HAMLIN," in relief within a rectangle (Laughlin-844).ProvenanceEx. Coll. Ledlie Irwin Laughlin (1890-1977). Sold by Thomas Williams (Litchfield, CT) to Alexander L. "Sandy" Weiner (1908-2004) in 1978. Purchased by Colonial Williamsburg from Sandy Weiner's son Mac in 2025.
ca.1720-1760
1690 -1710
1770-1800
1691-1715
