Images(6)

Cann

Dateca.1786

Maker Benjamin Burt (1729 - 1805)

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Boston

MediumSilver

DimensionsHeight: 5 3/4"; Width across body & handle: 6 3/8"; Diameter at mouth: 3 5/8"; Diameter at base: 4 1/8"; Weight: 16 oz. 10 dwts. (troy)

Credit LineBequest of Joseph H. and June S. Hennage

Object number2020-285

DescriptionBaluster-shaped silver cann with everted rim having an incised line below, a double scroll handle with acanthus leaf grip and a forked scroll terminal, and a molded, circular foot. Front engraved with a large wriggled and bright-cut oval medallion suspended below a canopy of swags set with three smaller medallions. Within the larger medallion are the initials "FAC" in intertwined floral script.
Label TextOf an extremely popular form, this cann curiously links the newly independent United States’ three northernmost ports. It was made by Benjamin Burt, one of Boston's most prolific silversmiths, for a prominent New Yorker who was living in Philadelphia at the time. The vessel's "splotchy" appearance is caused by fire-scale, a byproduct of the heating process used to soften or "anneal" the silver during its manufacture, and is often seen on early American pieces.

Forman Cheesman (1763-1821) married Ann Cummings (1768-1820) at Christ Church in Philadelphia on February 16, 1786. It is thought the newlyweds ordered this Boston-made cann around that time, and had it engraved with their intertwined initials. Cheesman was working as a shipbuilder in that city after the Revolution, but moved the business back to New York City in 1789. Meeting with success, he is credited with building the 44-gun frigate President, the fastest ship in the United States Navy when it was commissioned in 1800. Forman and Ann's descendants retained this silver cann into the 20th century.
InscribedBottom scratched with the weight "17 oz. = 1 Dwt" in two lines, in addition to "1 2 3" and an illegible word.
MarkingsStruck once on the bottom with "BENJAMIN / BURT" in italic relief within a butterfly-shaped cartouche (Kane mark A).