MARKED BY LAWRENCE LANGWORTHY (1692-1739), NEWPORT, 1730-1739

A rare survival of early metalwork from Rhode Island, this bell-metal posnet is prominently marked by its maker, Lawrence Langworthy (1692-1739). Born in Ashburton in the county of Devon, England, Langworthy was a pewterer, brazier and iron founder. His date of immigration is not known but by 1730, he had moved to Newport. Langworthy probably hailed from a prominent family and in America, he enjoyed considerable stature and financial success. A vestryman at Newport's Trinity Church, Langworthy died suddenly of a "violent collick" in 1739. Leaving a sizable estate, Langworthy was buried in the cemetery of Trinity Church, his grave marked by a tombstone with a coat-of-arms and his death was noted by the Boston Post Boy, which referred to his "Character of a Fair Dealer" and his occupation as brazier. In addition to the posnet offered here, examples signed by Langworthy include two at Winterthur Museum, a third example at Historic Deerfield and a fourth formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph K. Ott (Marion R. Brown, "Three Examples of the Work of Lawrence Langworthy, Newport Pewterer," Proceedings of the Rhode Island Historical Society, vol. 15, pp. 56-60; Donald L. Fennimore, Metalwork in Early America: Copper and Its Alloys in the Winterthur Collection (Winterthur, Delaware, 1996), p. 70, cats. 3a, 3b; Christie's, New York, The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph K. Ott, 20 January 2012, lot 174).