Thomas Danforth, III
Beaker

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Beaker
Datec. 1777–1818
Possible placeStepney, Connecticut, United States
Possible placeMiddletown, Connecticut, United States
Possible placePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumPewter
Dimensions5 3/16 × 3 3/8 in. diameter (13.2 × 8.6 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.60.62
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Murphy Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

The beaker is more closely associated with Continental traditions than with English customs. Nonetheless, extant silver and pewter examples indicate that the vessel was most common in New England, despite the Continental origins of a greater percentage of the middle colonies’ populace. The earliest extant American examples are in silver, dating from the third quarter of the seventeenth century, and in pewter from the second quarter of the eighteenth century.

Technical notes: Beakers were fabricated in two parts; the base has a circular slot to receive the cylinder. 

Related examples: Montgomery 1939, p. 120, fig. 9c.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


Provenance[Whimsy Antiques, Arlington, Vermont], purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1960; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Exhibition History"Theta Charity Antiques Show", Albert Thomas Convention Center, Houston, September 25–29, 1985 (LN:85.31)
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Incuse, below rim: mark of Thomas Danforth, III [Laughlin 1940, vol. I, pl. LIII, no. 369]; X
Below: a crown

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Saucer
Thomas Danforth, III
c. 1777–1820
Pewter
B.60.73
Saucer
Thomas Danforth, III
c. 1777–1820
Pewter
B.60.76
Porringer
Thomas Danforth Boardman
c. 1810–1830
Pewter
B.58.99
Dish
Thomas Danforth, II
c. 1755–1782
Pewter
B.60.71
Porringer
Thomas Danforth Boardman
c. 1810–1830
Pewter
B.56.186.1
Cann
Thomas Danforth, II
c. 1755–1818
Pewter
B.69.25
Beaker
Edward Danforth
c. 1786–1800
Pewter
B.60.61
Plate
Joseph Danforth, Sr.
c. 1779
Pewter
B.2006.16
Porringer
Samuel Danforth
c. 1795–1816
Pewter
B.58.97
Plate
John Danforth
c. 1762–1793
Pewter
B.60.74
Cann
Joseph Danforth, Sr.
c. 1779–1788
Pewter
B.60.65
Cann
Joseph Danforth, Sr.
c. 1779–1788
Pewter
B.60.66