Images(4)

Salver

Date1765-1766

Artist/Maker Ebenezer Coker

OriginEngland, London

MediumSilver (Sterling)

DimensionsDiameter: 6 7/8"; Height: 1 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1965-153

DescriptionSalver. Circular; cast shell-and-scroll rim applied to short inclined shaped sides; broad flat circular base forming tray supported on three cast double-scroll legs terminating in abbreviated hoof feet. Cypher "JCG" with floral embellishment engraved on face of tray in center.
Label TextThis salver was acquired with one larger and two smaller ones of matching design (1965-151,152, &154) and a partial cruet frame (1965-155). The articles were found buried between two pieces of roofing slate approximately twenty inches below the surface of a field on the farm of Elwood L. Boyce near Bowers Hill in Nansemond County, Virginia, on November 11, 1961. Two mugs of 1771/72 by Charles Wright of London had been previously found that year. All bear the same engraved cypher. Clustering in date between 1765 and 1771 and exhibiting little wear from use, they were probably buried in the eighteenth century, although no immediate reason is apparent. When found, care was not taken from an archaeological standpoint to determine their context.

The key to the identity of the original owners of these pieces is a tankard of conventional baluster form of 1771/72 by Charles Wright of London, the same date and maker as the pair of buried mugs, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Edenton, North Carolina. It is engraved with the same ornamented cypher confirming its original inclusion in this group, but bears the important later inscription: "Presented to St. Paul's Church. EDENTON. by Mrs. Mary Granby. 1833." Mary Harvey Granberry (1771-ca. 1833) was the wife of James Granberry (d. 1804), son of Josiah Granberry (1728-1772) and his wife, Christian Gregory, the original owners of the tankard and the other pieces. Raised in Nansemond County, Josiah Granberry moved to Chowan County, North Carolina, in 1747 and by 1752 had established himself as a merchant. By 1768 he was living in Suffolk, Nansemond County, where he died in December of 1772. He had served as a vestryman of St. Paul's Church in 1755 and as church warden in 1756 and 1762, which perhaps prompted his daughter-in-law's gift.
InscribedCypher "JCG" with floral embellishment engraved on face of tray in center.
MarkingsMaker's mark "EC" in block letters within a rectangle with canted corners, leopard's head crowned, lion passant and date letter on underside of tray.
ProvenanceThis salver, as well as three other salvers (1965-151 to 154) and a cruet frame (1965-155), were found buried approximately a foot or so beneath the surface of a field on the farm of Elwood L. Boyce of Joliff Road near Bowers Hill in Nansemond County on November 11, 1961. Involved in the find were Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Miller of Williow Cove, Hallieford, Virginia; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Costello of Uniondale, Long Island; and Mr. Edward Krampitz, superintendent of the Boyce farm. Their investigation, aided by a mine detector, resulted from Krampitz having previously turned up a silver cann while discing the field. A second cann was also found. Since the field had been farmed for many years and little care was taken from an archaeological standpoint in their removal from the earth, little can be determined from the depth at which they were found or from other artifacts found. The main body of the silver was encased in slate roofing tiles. It would seem that the silver was deliberately buried; and from the close cluster of the date letters on the pieces and the little amount of wear exhibited, it would appear that the silver was buried at the time of the Revolution, perhaps by a Loyalist. All pieces bear the ornamented cypher "JCG." The key to the identity of the original owner is a tankard of 1771/72 by Charles Wright of London, the same date and maker as a pair of mugs at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Edenton, North Carolina, engraved with the same cypher with inscription: "Presented to St. Paul's Church, EDENTON. by Mrs. Mary Granby. 1833." Mary Harvey Granberry (1771-ca. 1833) was the wife of James Granberry (d. 1804), son of Josiah Granberry (1728-1772) and his wife, Christian Gregory, the original owners of the tankard and other pieces. Raised in Nansemond County, Josiah Granberry moved to Chowan County, North Carolina, in 1747 and by 1752 had established himself as a merchant. By 1768 he was living in Suffolk, Nansemond County, where he died in December 1772. He had served as a vestryman of St. Paul's Church in 1755 and as church warden in 1756 and 1762, which perhaps prompted his daughter-in-law's gift.

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