MARK OF SAMUEL CASEY, SOUTH KINGSTOWN, RHODE ISLAND, CIRCA 1760

Details

A FINE AND RARE SILVER TEAPOT
MARK OF SAMUEL CASEY, SOUTH KINGSTOWN, RHODE ISLAND, CIRCA 1760
Inverted pyriform, on molded circular foot, the shoulder engraved with strapwork, bird and mask border, with leaf-clad scroll spout and handle socket, the domed cover engraved with spiral foliate calyx and bud finial, the body engraved with monogram HPG, within a rococo cartouche, marked under base
10in. long over handle; 18oz. 10dwt. gross weight

Lot Essay

Samuel Casey, born in Newport, Rhode Island, was the finest silversmith of his day working outside a major urban center--a distinction undoubtedly due to his apprenticeship with Jacob Hurd of Boston. The quality of his engraving was exceptional, and probably allowed him his brief success as a counterfeiter. Sentenced to death for this activity, he escaped from jail in 1770, eventually obtaining a pardon in 1779. Other examples of his fine engraving are cyphers on a pair of sauceboats at Yale, based on Sympson's Book of Cyphers of 1726. This teapot is one of Casey's largest and most elaborate pieces of holloware.

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