MARK OF SAMUEL VERNON, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, CIRCA 1730

Details

AN AMERICAN SILVER PORRINGER
MARK OF SAMUEL VERNON, NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, CIRCA 1730
The pierced keyhole handle engraved with block initials EM, the underside also later engraved with foliate initials EM, marked on underside SV with a cross below in a heart
7 ½ in. (19 cm.) long, over handle
8 oz. 2 dwt. (252 gr.)

Provenance

For a member of the Malbone Family, possibly Evan Malbone (c. 1718-1784), thence by decent through the family.
With Englewood Antiques Corp., Englewood, New Jersey, by 1966.
Acquired from the above by Cornelius C. Moore (1885-1970).
The Cornelius C. Moore Collection of Early American Silver; Sotheby's, New York, 21 January 1986, lot 6.

Literature

Anne Spokas, American Silver 1670-1830: The Cornelius C. Moore Collection at Providence College, Providence, 1980, item 4, p. 47.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

The initials on the present lot are reported to be for a member of the Malbone family, possibly Evan Malbone (c. 1718-1784), the eldest son of Colonel Geoffrey Malbone (1695–1768) who had moved from Virginia to Newport, Rhode Island with his family around 1700. Col. Malbone married Katherine Scott (1700-1795) in 1719, and became one of the richest men in Newport. His country mansion, constructed in 1741, was considered one of the finest houses in the American colonies, and played host to future president George Washington in 1756, a friend of Col. Malbone dating back to his childhood in Virginia. Though a mansion built in 1848 still stands on the site today, the original mansion was destroyed due to a kitchen fire during a gala in 1766.

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