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2022-74, Cup
Caudle Cup
2022-74, Cup

Caudle Cup

Dateca. 1670
Maker John Hull & Robert Sanderson
Marked by Jeremiah Dummer (1645 - 1718)
OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Boston
MediumSilver alloy
DimensionsAcross handles: 6 1/2"; Diameter at rim: 4 "; Diameter at foot: 3"; Height: 3 5/8"; Weight: 7 oz. 10 dwt. (239 gr.)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Joseph H. and June S. Hennage Fund
Object number2022-74
DescriptionBroad, baluster-shaped body with a lightly everted rim, a low base, and a pair of cast handles applied to opposite sides. The handles have scrolled terminals, a medial ridge, and a curled projection.
Label TextThis cup, the earliest piece of American silver in the Colonial Williamsburg collection, was fashioned by the first silversmiths working in what is now the United States. Wrought around 1670, it belonged to the Puritan congregation of the First Church of Christ in Farmington, Connecticut. From its production until 2005 the cup was a treasured part of the congregation's ecclesiastical service.

Called a "caudle cup," the name belies ithe form's religious use as a vessel for sacramental wine. Caudle, a hot, sweet, often alcoholic porridge, was certainly not part of the church's communion tradition, though the form was perfect for such use. The cup's low body was stable and its two handles, or "ears," made it easy to pass from one congregant to another. Clearly popular, five others, nearly identical to this earliest example, were acquired by the church before 1720.

Struck into one side near the rim is the mark of Robert Sanderson, Sr. (ca.1608-1693), a London-trained goldsmith who emigrated to America in 1639. On the bottom is the mark of his partner, John Hull (1624-1683), a British-born immigrant who arrived in Boston in 1635. Also stamped into the cup is the mark of Jeremiah Dummer (1645-1718), the first native-born American silversmith, apprenticed to Hull in 1659. Interestingly, Dummer's mark was struck over Sanderson's, while Hull's mark was struck over Dummer's. Exactly what this means is unclear, but it likely has to do with Dummer's transition from journeyman to master and the opening of his own silversmithing business. This caudle cup is the only known piece to carry the marks of all three artisans.

Hull, Sanderson, and Dummer were also responsible for the birth of American money. John Hull was appointed Mintmaster of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652, and was assisted by his partner, Sanderson, and his apprentice/journeyman, Dummer. Operating from 1652 until 1682, Hull & Sanderson's mint produced the famed Oak Tree and Pine Tree coinage, amongst other types, in their shop in Boston's North End. Furthermore, when Massachusetts authorized the first issue of American paper money in 1690, it was Dummer who engraved the printing plates.

Around 1907, Farmington Church decided their centuries-old silver should be housed elsewhere for safe keeping. Stored in a bank vault until 1964, the caudle cups were loaned to the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, just a few miles from Farmington. In the early 2000s, the congregation decided to sell the group in order to advance the church's mission. The proceeds funded structural renovation of the church and the construction of a new building.
Inscribed"F" and "C" are engraved on the bottom flanking the center point (the ownership mark of 'Farmington Church').

Traces of a pricked decoration appear below the rim on the side of the body opposite that bearing Sanderson and Dummer's marks. This likely once took the form of initials encompassed by foliate scrolls. See the MFA/Boston's wine cup by Hull and Sanderson, accession number 1999-91, for a similar device.
MarkingsSide, below rim; Sanderson's "RS" below a blazing sun, all in relief and within a shaped cartouche (Kane mark C). Overstruck with Jeremiah Dummer's "ID" above a fleur-de-lis in relief, within a heart-shaped cartouche (Kane mark A). Dummer's mark is rotated 180 degrees from Sanderson's.

Bottom; Jeremiah Dummer's "ID" above a fleur-de-lis in relief, within a heart-shaped cartouche (Kane mark A). Overstruck with Hull's "IH" above a cinquefoil (five-petaled flower) in relief, within a heart-shaped cartouche (Kane mark C).
ProvenanceFirst Church of Christ, Congregational, Farmington, CT, ca.1670-2005
ex. colls; Eric M. Wunsch, Dr. Christopher J. Salmon