Beaker

Date1771-1772

Maker Henry Haynes

MediumSilver (Sterling); Gold (silver-gilt)

DimensionsH(rim): approx. 5 1/2"; D(rim): 3 15/16"; D(base): approx. 3"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1954-553,2

DescriptionFooted beaker: inverted bell-shaped body with drawn and applied multiple molding at rim and thirteen tall cast and applied vertical straps in the form of acanthus leaves issuing from base; drawn and applied fasces-like banding above straps of half-round section with applied cross-banding above each strap; beaded banding below leaves and above stems; stems of straps at base of body alternated with double-fluted lobes; cast circular splayed base with contracted neck of concave profile with parallel concave flutes above gadrooned shoulder to plain edge.
Label TextThe footed beaker or goblet was a popular form in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The substantial bodies of this handsome pair are embellished with applied ornament in the neoclassical taste, such as the repeat of acanthus leaves, tied reeding and beading.

Robert Carter of Nomini Hall, Westmoreland County, Virginia, imported in 1774 through his London agents, John Hyndman & Co., two silver pint goblets, which were probably of this form. They are described in another account as "gilt inside."

While in Paris, Jefferson commissioned Odiot in 1788 or 1789 to fashion a pair of footed beakers for him. Of similar form, they are perfectly plain and elevated on a square plinth or base. Jefferson's design for these is in the Coolidge Papers at Massachusetts Historical Society. The beakers are privately owned.

A set of six very similar silver-gilt beakers with classical medallions and two matching covered jugs or ewers, all of 1780/81 by Andrew Fogelberg and Stephen Gilbert of London, were sold at auction in 1972.
InscribedNone
MarkingsMaker's mark "HH" in block letters conjoined within a rectangle, leopard's head crowned, lion passant, and date letter on face of foot above edge.
ProvenanceVendor: Garrard & Co. Ltc., London
This pair of beakers was purchased by the vendor at Christie, Manson & Woods, LTD., on July 9, 1954. (See invoice and Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., CATALOGUE OF FINE OLD ENGLISH SILVER AND FOREIGN PLATE; THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN {London: July 9, 1954},p. 18, lot 98, unillustrated.)