A FRENCH PROVINCIAL SILVER TABLESPOON
A FRENCH PROVINCIAL SILVER TABLESPOON

MARK OF MARC LALANNE, BORDEAUX, CIRCA 1770

Details
A FRENCH PROVINCIAL SILVER TABLESPOON
Mark of Marc Lalanne, Bordeaux, circa 1770
Fiddle Shell pattern, the reverse of handle engraved with inscription Sarah Elliot to the Church in Federal Street 1803., marked on reverse
7 7/8in. long; 2oz. 10dwt.
Provenance
Sarah Elliot (d. 1805), widow of Simon Elliot (d. 1793), tobacconist, of Boston
Literature
E. Alfred Jones, Old Silver of American Churches, 1913, p. 80.

Lot Essay

Sarah Elliot was the widow of snuff-maker Simon Elliot Sr., one of the earliest and longest-standing members of the meeting house on Long Lane. Simon Elliot appears in Rev. Moorhead's records as early as 1734, and is recorded in numerous church documents including the impeachment proceedings in 1774 and the 1786 meeting which changed the form of government from Presbyterian to Congregationalist.

Elliot is noted in the 1789 Boston City Directory as "Snuff maker op. Bossenger Foster's store, State Street." He was clearly a successful merchant, evidenced by the inventory which valued his estate at £4,058..10..0, including his "Mansion House & Land situate in Federal Street" valued at £1,300.

His son, Simon Elliot Jr. was a merchant and executor of his father's estate. Elliot Jr. also had a long association with the church, where he is listed as a proprietor in 1803.

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