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Flagon of the Church of Christ, New Salem, Connecticut

Dateca. 1737

Retailed by Samuel Ellis I

OriginEngland, London

MediumPewter and brass

DimensionsHeight: 13 1/4"; Diameter of foot: 6 1/2"; Across body and handle: 7"

Credit LineGift of Meredith Tonnesen

Object number2026-21

Description"Spire flagon" with broad, stepped foot, and a tapered cylindrical body set with a high double band. Its handle is double-scrolled with a bud finial, and is stepped below the five-knuckle hinge. Lifted by a chairback thumbpiece, the double-domed lid is topped by a double-knobbed finial (replaced).Label TextEarlier in the 18th century, large complicated pewter forms like this "spire" flagon came into the colonies from England. Though pewterers had been operating in America for decades, it was far more economical to import such complicated vessels, made by specialist makers in cities like Exeter, Bristol, and London. This piece exemplifies the practice since it was made by a British pewterer, wholesaled by another, and imported by a second-generation pewtersmith working in Boston.

The markings and inscriptions on this well-worn vessel have a remarkable story to tell. Made by a now unidentifiable craftsman, it carries the four pseudo-hallmarks known to have been used by numerous specialist makers of large holloware forms from the late 17th century through the early 19th century. Struck above them is the mark of London pewterer Samuel Ellis, Sr., known for making plates and dishes, but also for exporting large quantities of wares to the American colonies.

Ellis's American customer for this flagon was pewterer and entrepreneur John Dolbeare (1669-1740), one of the richest men in New England. Flagons like this were very popular in the region, and many were purchased for ecclesiastic use. Rather than selling this particular vessel through his Boston shop, Dolbeare presented it to a newly-formed parish in New Salem, Connecticut, nearby to some of his real estate holdings. Prominently engraved on the front of the flagon is a deep inscription reading "The Gift of Mr. John Dolbeare / of Boston to the CHURCH of CHRIST / in New Salem in Connecticut N E / Octob; 1st: 1737."

Being in a remote, sparsely-settled part of Connecticut, New Salem Parish was authorized by the General Court of the colony in 1725, drawing land from Colchester and Lyme. Three years later, a Presbyterian Meeting House and cemetery was built on what is now Music Vale Road in Salem, the congregation to which Dolbeare gifted this very flagon. A short-lived structure, the church was removed or destroyed in 1763 and rebuilt in a different location.

More than a century later it was recorded in the possession of a private individual .D. Hamilton Hurd's 1882 HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUTR WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF MANY OF ITS PIONEERS AND PROMINANT MEN, mentions the flagon on p.520. Hurd states "A pitcher now in the possession of Mr. Samuel Allen, of New Hartford, is said to have been a gift of John Dolbeare. Upon it is the inscription, "The gift of Mr. John Dolbeare, of Boston, to the Church of Christ in New Salem, in Conn., New England, Oct. 1st, 1737."

When the flagon left the church in New Salem is unknown. Perhaps it was transferred to another congregation which went defunct before Mr. Allen acquired it. Regardless, it is a remarkable survival which exhibits the centuries of use, repair, and age it has endured, with much to say about it all.Inscription(s)The front of the body is engraved, in four lines: The Gift of Mr. John Dolbeare / of Boston to the CHURCH of CHRIST / in New Salem in Connecticut N E / Octob; 1st: 1737.Mark(s)Body struck, to the left of the top handle attachment with S:ELLIS in relief within a rectangle over four pseudo "TC" hallmarks (struck upside down).Provenance1737, presented to the Church of Chris (New Salem, CT) by John Dolbeare (Boston, MA); ca. 1896, in the possession of Samuel Allen (New Hartford, CT); [Hollis Brodrick, antiques dealer]; purchase by Meredith Tonnesen (Reston, VA); 2026, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)