Lot Essay
This caster is the largest of only four known American sugar casters surviving from the first quarter of the 18th century. The Yale University Art Gallery has two: the first by Bartholomew Le Roux, 8 inches high, and the second by Peter van Dyck, 7 1/2 inches high. The Museum of the City of New York has the third, by Jurian Blanck, 7 inches high. While the great majority of van der Spiegel's silver was made in the Dutch style for Dutch clients, this caster bears English armorials, and its form is correspondingly English in design.
The coat-of-arms within the oval reserve is most probably that of the Gardiner family of Gardiner's Island, New York. The present coat-of-arms, used by the Gardiner family since the mid-18th century, appears to be engraved over the originals of John Gardiner (1661-1738), whose arms differ from those used by his descendants. (Both are correct for Gardiner, as in Burke's General Armory, p.387). Specifically, the chevron in John Gardiner's arms was ermine, rather than gules, and traces of the ermine pattern are visible under the present hatch-marks indicating the tincture. John Gardiner's arms include a helm, as on this caster, but the crest is unrecorded; traces of this caster's original crest in the form of a lion passant suggest that John Gardiner, grandson of Lion Gardiner, based his crest on the family founder's name. Lion Gardiner (1599-1663) was an English emigre and the first proprietor of Gardiner's Island, which still remains in the family. Based on the armorials, then, John Gardiner, third proprietor of the island, is likely the original owner of this caster. John Gardiner's son, David Gardiner (1691-1751), used his father's armorials, but the grandson, John Gardiner (1714-1764), fifth proprietor of the island, used the coat-of-arms now present on this caster. The present crest, however, is unrecorded in the Gardiner family of New York.
John Gardiner lived on Gardiner's Island at the time of a well-recorded visit by Captain Kidd in 1699. According to the contemporary documents, Kidd traded goods with Gardiner, presenting him with a bag of sugar and other imports in exchange for sheep and cider. Gardiner's great-great grandson, John Lyon Gardiner (1770-1816), described his ancestor as follows:
John was a hearty, active, robust man; generous and upright; sober at home but jovial abroad, and swore sometimes; always kept his chaplain; he was a good farmer and made great improvement on the Island, he made a great deal of money, although a big liver, and had a great deal to do for his four wives connections; he had an expensive family of children; he gave them, for those times, large portions.
(See Curtiss C. Gardiner, Lion Gardiner and His Descendants, St. Louis, 1890, esp. pp. XIX-XX and 97).
The coat-of-arms within the oval reserve is most probably that of the Gardiner family of Gardiner's Island, New York. The present coat-of-arms, used by the Gardiner family since the mid-18th century, appears to be engraved over the originals of John Gardiner (1661-1738), whose arms differ from those used by his descendants. (Both are correct for Gardiner, as in Burke's General Armory, p.387). Specifically, the chevron in John Gardiner's arms was ermine, rather than gules, and traces of the ermine pattern are visible under the present hatch-marks indicating the tincture. John Gardiner's arms include a helm, as on this caster, but the crest is unrecorded; traces of this caster's original crest in the form of a lion passant suggest that John Gardiner, grandson of Lion Gardiner, based his crest on the family founder's name. Lion Gardiner (1599-1663) was an English emigre and the first proprietor of Gardiner's Island, which still remains in the family. Based on the armorials, then, John Gardiner, third proprietor of the island, is likely the original owner of this caster. John Gardiner's son, David Gardiner (1691-1751), used his father's armorials, but the grandson, John Gardiner (1714-1764), fifth proprietor of the island, used the coat-of-arms now present on this caster. The present crest, however, is unrecorded in the Gardiner family of New York.
John Gardiner lived on Gardiner's Island at the time of a well-recorded visit by Captain Kidd in 1699. According to the contemporary documents, Kidd traded goods with Gardiner, presenting him with a bag of sugar and other imports in exchange for sheep and cider. Gardiner's great-great grandson, John Lyon Gardiner (1770-1816), described his ancestor as follows:
John was a hearty, active, robust man; generous and upright; sober at home but jovial abroad, and swore sometimes; always kept his chaplain; he was a good farmer and made great improvement on the Island, he made a great deal of money, although a big liver, and had a great deal to do for his four wives connections; he had an expensive family of children; he gave them, for those times, large portions.
(See Curtiss C. Gardiner, Lion Gardiner and His Descendants, St. Louis, 1890, esp. pp. XIX-XX and 97).