Caster

Date1758-1759

Artist/Maker Samuel Wood (English, ca.1704 - 1794)

MediumSilver (Sterling)

DimensionsH: 5 3/8" ; Diam (base): 1 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1971-25,1A&B

DescriptionSterling silver caster; Double-bellied caster with round stepped foot, cylindrical neck, and pressure-fitted tall, domed lid with bell shaped finial. Lid pierced with pattern of circles and scrolls, and lined with metal sleeve (possible later addition?) typical of a mustard caster.
Label TextA 1907 bill of sale for this caster and a matching example notes that they were "once the property of the father of Charles Carroll of Carrollton with his crest engraved." Grouped with these casters in the bill is a "Sugar Sifter or Muffineer" of the same date, perhaps the large caster completing an original set of three. Samuel Wood was the principal specialist caster and cruet stand maker in London from the early 1730s until the mid 1760s, and many examples from this period bear his mark. He commenced his apprenticeship in 1721 under Thomas Bamford, a caster maker, and he entered his first mark in 1733.

InscribedCrest of the Carroll family of Maryland engraved on neck of body.
MarkingsMarked in relief on base 1) lion passant; 2) sponsor's mark "S•W" in an oval [Grimwade 1990 #2658 for Samuel Wood; leopard's head crowned; and 4) date letter "C" for 1758-59. Also marked on bezel of lid. Also marked with # 1 and # 2 on bezel of cover

ProvenanceFarris C. Pitt, Baltimore (sold to Mrs. Waldo Newcomer, Baltimore, 1907)
John D. Walton, Inc., New York
Acquired by CWF in 1971. One deaccessioned in 1980.