D2007-CMD-0414: 1982-167 chalice; 1982-166 flagon

Images(2)

C1982-1393: 1982-167 chalice; 1982-166 flagon

Communion chalice

Date1757-1781

Attributed to Johann Christopher Heyne (1715 - 1781)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Lancaster

MediumPewter with (later) silver electroplating

DimensionsOH: 8 7/8"; Diam (rim): 4 1/16"; Diam (base): 4 ½"

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Foster McCarl, Jr.

Object number1982-167

DescriptionSilverplated pewter communion chalice: Cup of tapered cylindrical form with rounded bottom; mounted on a shaft with large banded ball central knop, over a double dome base. Unmarked.
Label TextJohann Christoph Heyne (1715-1781), who trained in his native Saxony and worked in Stockholm before migrating from London to Philadelphia in 1742, had established himself by 1752 as a pewterer in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A deeply and actively religious man, he produced an extraordinary body of church pewter, notable among which is a large number of chalices and flagons, many still owned by their German congregations in southeastern Pennsylvania. In its combination of Continental and Anglo-American elements, Heyne’s work is an important chapter in American pewter of the colonial period. This chalice and its associated flagon (accession 1982-166) were later electroplated with silver.

Johann Christoph Heyne produced some of the most distinctive pewter made in colonial America. It is not known when or why this pair of church vessels by Heyne was electroplated with silver. The electroplating process, perfected about 1840, deposits a coating of silver on a fully-formed object. Prior to electroplating, the objects were probably stripped or buffed to ensure a uniform surface.
ProvenanceGift of Mr. and Mrs. Foster McCarl, Jr., Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.