Tankard

Date1690-1702

Maker William Eddon

MediumPewter

DimensionsOH: 7 1/4"; Diam (base): 5 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1950-861

DescriptionTankard. Flat-topped with serrated overhang and restored. Thumbpiece. Large tulip engraved on lid. Initials I and E / W under lid. Tapered drum body engraved with royal portrait and W.R. in oval medallion between lion with rose on one side and unicorn with thistle on other. Hollow scroll handle with shield terminal. Molded foot ring.
Label TextThere is a sizable group of English pewter with patriotic decoration that was made to commemorate, in particular, the accession of the monarch to the throne or a royal marriage. Such commemorative items, from armorial dishes to portrait spoons and tankards, enjoyed their greatest popularity from the last decades of the seventeenth century through the 1720s. This tankard has sustained considerable wear, and its portrait of William III is somewhat faint. He is flanked by wriggle-engraved royal symbols of the rose and lion to the left and of the thistle and unicorn to the right. It is apparent even in illustration that the thumbpiece is a heavy-handed and unconvincing replacement. This tankard is of particular interest, in that it has a tradition of ownership in the Worthington family of Springfield, Massachusetts, and stamped owners' initials that purport to be of that family. It is but one of a considerable number of pieces by William Eddon (or Eden) pewter with a history in the Connecticut River Valley, prompting speculation of an agent selling his wares in that area. A very similarly engraved tankard with the portrait of William III, flanked by the same supporters and emblems, is marked by John Donne of London and is in the collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society. It has a history of descent from Hannah (Emerson) Dustin (1657- ca.1636) of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Indian raiders carried Hannah off in 1697, only for her to escape heroically with ten of their scalps. Cotton Mather recalled later how Hannah and other two others that had escaped received not only recompense from the province but also presents of congratulation from individuals. The Dustin tankard is thought perhaps to have been a gift to her from Governor Francis Nicholson of Maryland, who, as Mather relates, "sent 'em a very generous token of his favour." Both of these tankards document the American ownership at an early date of English examples of this important form with royal portraits.
InscribedOwners' initials "W / I E" within separate serrated rectangles on underside of cover flange opposite handle. This tankard has a tradition of ownership in the Worthington family of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Body engraved with royal portrait and W.R. in oval medallion between lion with rose on one side and unicorn with thistle on other.
MarkingsIndistinct touch mark on interior center-bottom of base. Pseudo hallmarks (1) leopard's head, (2) buckle, (3) lion passant, and (4) indistinct, each within a shaped reserve on top of cover (Cotterell 1503).
ProvenanceVendor: Dr. Percy E. Raymond, Lexington, Massachusetts. This tankard has a tradition of ownership in the Worthington family of Springfield, Massachusetts.