Two-Handled Cup

Public Domain

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Maker Robert Bonynge(American, active 1731–1763)American, active 1731–1763

CultureAmerican

Titles

Two-Handled Cup

Datec. 1731–1763

Made inBoston, Massachusetts, United States

MediumPewter

Dimensions4 7/16 × 7 1/16 × 4 in. (11.3 × 18 × 10.2 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Susan Neptune

Object numberB.2024.5

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Murphy Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

METALWORK

DescriptionTwo-handled gadrooned cups are a great rarity in American pewter; only five are known, all marked by the Boston pewterer Robert Bonynge. These cups closely resemble those made in London by William Hux, both in construction and appearance. What makes Bonynge's cups particularly unusual is that they were cast in molds that created the gadrooning bands, whereas most pewter ornaments were typically added after casting through the use of a lathe. The influence of silver objects on pewter design is evident, as Boston silversmith William Cowell, Sr. produced two-handled cups with a remarkably similar design in the early 1700s.
ProvenanceJohn Carl Thomas, Hanover, Connecticut; Melvyn Wolf (1932–2024), Flint, Michigan; Estate of Melvyn Wolf; [consigned to Pook & Pook, Downingtown, Pennsylvania, September 25, 2024, lot 306]; purchased by MFAH, 2024.
Published References An American Pewter Collection: The Collection of Dr. Melvyn & Bette Wolf. 1st ed. limited to 500 copies. [Place of publication not identified]: [publisher not identified], 2006. Cat. no. 168. Hornsby, Peter. Pewter of the Western World, 1600–1850. Exton, Pa.: Schiffer Pub., 1983. Published as fig. 33, p. 36; fig. 1001, p. 293. Pewter Collectors’ Club of America. Pewter in American Life. [Wappingers Falls, N.Y.]: Pewter Collectors Club of America, 1984. p. 122. Yale University Art Gallery, and Victoria and Albert Museum. American Art, 1750–1800: Towards Independence. Edited by Charles F. Montgomery and Patricia E. Kane. 1st ed. Boston: Published for Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, by the New York Graphic Society, 1976. Published as fig.197, p. 226. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Base: Engraved owner’s mark: R / I M

Base: Marked at center within a circle: Crowned rose flanked by R B; Jacobs 10.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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