Cann
Dateca. 1831
Maker
Walter Pearce (ca. 1805-ca. 1872)
MediumSilver
DimensionsOH: 4 3/8"; OW (incl. handle): 4 3/4"; OD (at belly): 3 3/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Antique Collectors' Guild in memory of Joseph H. Hennage and in memory of Edward B. Stvan
Object number2010-14,1
DescriptionBaluster-shaped silver cann with an incised line around the everted rim, a double scroll handle with acanthus leaf grip and a forked scroll terminal, and a stepped, circular foot.Label TextRhode Island silversmith Walter Pearce moved to Norfolk, Virginia, by 1831 and soon married Sarah Clarico, widow of Norfolk goldsmith Joseph Clarico. It was not unusual for families to marry with their trade. Pearce was one of the thousands of northern artisans who immigrated to coastal southern cities in search of better opportunities during the Early National period. By 1850, he and his family relocated to Mobile, Alabama, where he carried on the business.
Although Pearce made this cann about 1831, it is in a style that was popular more than 50 years earlier. The reasons for his conservatism are unclear, but the cann was made and engraved for five-year-old Ella Waller Tazewell, daughter of Virginia Governor Littleton Waller Tazewell.
InscribedEngraved in script on belly of body opposite handle "Ella W. Tazewell."
MarkingsMarked on base in relief: "W. PEARCE/ VA/ NORFOLK" in a football-shaped reserve; also marked on base in relief: an eagle in a square reserve.
ProvenanceElla Waller Tazewell (1826-1885) of Norfolk, Virginia. (One of a pair; other cann is now in the collections of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.)
Jonathan Trace, Portsmouth, NH
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