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Lot Essay
This spoon is one of "12 large Silver spoons weight 26 oz." ordered by Samuel Parkman and recorded in Paul Revere's Daybook in August, 1789 (see illustration). Parkman paid Revere with 26 oz. of silver but was charged for labor, including engraving "cyphers."
Samuel Parkman (1751-1824) was a frequent patron of Paul Revere. He was one of Boston's wealthiest merchants who amassed his fortune through real estate and the export of indigo, tar, turpentine, and ship masts as well as the import of wares from the far east. In Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers, 1998, Patricia Kane lists nine surviving silver objects commissioned by Parkman, including two soup ladles, a pair of sugar tongs, four table spoons, a teaspoon, and a presentation urn. In 1801 Parkman presented a bronze bell, cast by Revere, to the Westborough Church. The bell was moved in 2011 to the Old South Meeting House in Boston, where it now hangs. Parkman also donated two paintings that still hang in Faneuil Hall, one of Peter Faneuil by Henry Sargent, the other of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart.
PHOTO CAPTION
Entry from Paul Revere's Daybook, recording Samuel Parkman's order of twelve large silver spoons engraved with cyphers, August 1789, vol. II, p. 80.
Samuel Parkman (1751-1824) was a frequent patron of Paul Revere. He was one of Boston's wealthiest merchants who amassed his fortune through real estate and the export of indigo, tar, turpentine, and ship masts as well as the import of wares from the far east. In Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers, 1998, Patricia Kane lists nine surviving silver objects commissioned by Parkman, including two soup ladles, a pair of sugar tongs, four table spoons, a teaspoon, and a presentation urn. In 1801 Parkman presented a bronze bell, cast by Revere, to the Westborough Church. The bell was moved in 2011 to the Old South Meeting House in Boston, where it now hangs. Parkman also donated two paintings that still hang in Faneuil Hall, one of Peter Faneuil by Henry Sargent, the other of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart.
PHOTO CAPTION
Entry from Paul Revere's Daybook, recording Samuel Parkman's order of twelve large silver spoons engraved with cyphers, August 1789, vol. II, p. 80.