Images(8)

Communion cup

Dateca. 1737

Marked by Joseph Clark Jr. 1716-1783

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Boston

MediumSilver

DimensionsOH: 8 7/8"; Cup Diam: 3 3/4"; base Diam: 3 3/8"

Credit LineGift of the Wunsch Americana Foundation

Object number2023-128,1

DescriptionCommunion cup. Pair of cups with inverted bell-shaped bowls, wrought baluster stems and spreading bases.Label TextThese standing cups differ from other silver communion vessels. Their shape is similar to that of a wine glass, and the stem of each cup is wrought rather than cast. There appear to be no prototypes for this particular form in either American or English silver.

This cup, one of a pair, was made as a gift for the Third Church of Christ of Lynn, Massachusetts, as directed by the 1737 will of Theophilus Burrill.
Inscription(s)Each cup is engraved with a cartouche of acanthus leaves and pendant bell flowers within which is the inscription: "The Gift of / The Honourable / THEOPHILUS / BURRILL Esqr. / To the Third / Church of Christ in Lynn"
(cup #2 has the name spelled "Theophillus")
Inscribed on the bottom of the base of each cup is "U.S." for the Universalist Society, now called the First Parish Universalist Church, Sangus, Mass., successor to the Third Church, Lynn.

Script intials "UL" also scratched very lightly on the underside of both bases.Mark(s)Marked on bowls and bases: "I. Clark" in rectangle (Kane mark A)Provenance1737, purchased for the Third Church of Christ (Lynn, MA) as a gift of Theophilus Burrill as directed by his 1737 will; successor organization, First Parish Universalist Church (Saugus, MA); [Sotheby's, New York, January 26 and 28, 1984]; 1984, sold to Wunsch Americana Foundation (New York, NY); 2023-present, given to The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)