William Will
Tankard

MakerAmerican, born Germany, 1742–1798
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Tankard
Datec. 1764–1798
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumPewter
Dimensions8 1/8 × 6 3/4 × 4 5/8 in. (20.6 × 17.1 × 11.7 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Greg Curran, Ralph Eads, Jeff Hildebrand, Bill Montgomery, and Tony Petrello at "One Great Night in November, 2016"
Object numberB.2016.6
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Kilroy Center
Exposé

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Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Ledlie I. Laughlin, in his authoritative Pewter in America, found in William Will’s products “a distinction and an originality not found thus far in the pewter of any other American maker.” Fine workmanship, ambitious designs, and an impressive variety of forms contribute to the high esteem in which this craftsman is held. As one of the most productive pewterers in 18th-century America, Will is noted for the aspiration and accomplishment of his products. The so-called tulip-shaped tankard has been described as being particularly characteristic of Philadelphia, making the present tankard an especially fine representative of its time and place. This tankard, with its bellied form, double-domed lid, molded foot, and boldly scrolling handle, is among the most sculpturally ambitious and aesthetically successful of American pewter tankards. These elements, cast in separate molds and later joined together, are exceptionally well integrated into a visual whole with pleasing proportions and a carefully considered combination of curves.

Unlike the silversmith who created hollowware by hammering a disc of silver, and who was at least theoretically free to make any shape he wished, the pewterer was limited by his molds. The better molds were made of brass and were expensive. There was every incentive for the pewterer to limit the number of shapes he could cast; the test of his ingenuity lay in discovering multiple uses for each shape. Thus the domed lid of a tankard also served as the base of a chalice, and on close examination it appears that both came from the same mold. The interchangeability of parts was the pewterer’s stock in trade.


ProvenancePossibly [John Carl Thomas, Hanover, Connecticut]; purchased by Jeanne and Bernard B. Hillman (1924–2007), Wyckoff, New Jersey; consigned to [Pook and Pook, Inc., Downingtown, Pennsylvania, January 15, 2016, lot 180]; purchased by [Bette & Melvyn Wolf, Inc., Flint, Michigan, 2016]; purchased by MFAH, 2016.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Marked on bottom: WW (see Laughlin mark, 541; Jacobs mark, 288).

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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