Lot 72

PROPERTY OF THE FIRST PARISH CHURCH IN BROOKLINE (Lots 72-80)The area of modern Brookline, originally known as Muddy River, was settled in the 17th century, with the inhabitants worshipping in nearby Roxbury. In 1705 there was a vote to incorporate the land into a town, to be named Brookline, with its own meeting house and minister. It was not until 1717 however that the town succeeded in establishing the Church of Christ in Brookline. At the time, town and church together formed one corporation, so that the municipal government, taxation, and laws of Brookline were actually established by the First Church. Indeed, when the first minster James Allen (see lot 72) was hired, the town voted that “the minster’s sallary of £80 be raised by an equall and Proportionable Rate Levyed on the Inhabitants.” Later on, in 1789, the town meeting minutes directed the Selectmen “to buy the Rev’d Joseph Jackson’s wood for the present year on the most Reasonable terms they can” (see lot 77). Under the guidance of minister John Pierce from 1797 to 1849, the congregation became a member of the American Unitarian Association (see lot 73). From 1856 to 1872, First Parish’s minister was the acclaimed Transcendentalist Fredric Henry Hedge, who had established the famous Transcendental Club with Ralph Waldo Emerson and George Putnam in the 1830s. In 1893 the Parish moved to its fourth meeting house and current location on Walnut Street in Brookline. The Parish is still an active part of the Brookline community, committed to Christian traditions, liberal inclusiveness, and municipal gatherings.See William Henry Lyon, The First Parish in Brookline, 1898; the silver is described on p. 43.

AN AMERICAN SILVER TANKARD

MARK OF JOHN CONEY, BOSTON, CIRCA 1690

Details

AN AMERICAN SILVER TANKARD
MARK OF JOHN CONEY, BOSTON, CIRCA 1690
Cylindrical, the handle with scroll thumbpiece, rattail join, and shield-shaped terminal, the hinge with crimped wire and the grip with monogram MS, compass-engraved at the front with a double circle enclosing the presentation inscription The Gift of Miss Mary Allin to the Church in Brookline 1750, marked under base, below rim, and on cover, with Kane mark A
6 ¾ in. (17.2 cm.) high; 25 oz. 10 dwt. (795 gr.)

Literature

John Buck, Old Plate, Its Makers & Marks, 1903, p. 241
E. Alfred Jones, The Old Silver of American Churches, 1913, pl. XXXVII, pp. 99-103
Hermann Frederick Clarke, John Coney, Silversmith 1655-1722, 1932, no. 89
Patricia Kane, Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers, 1998, p. 330

Exhibited

American Church Silver, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1911, no. 236, pl. 7

Lot Essay

The donor, Mary Allin (1725-1750), was the daughter of the first pastor, Rev. James Allen (d. 1747). She is recorded as a seamstress in Brookline. Her will, proved 3 April 1750 records her gift of this tankard to the "Church of Christ in Brookline."

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