Salver

Public Domain

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Maker Lewis Fueter(American, Swiss, 1746–1784)American, Swiss, 1746–1784

CultureAmerican

Titles

Salver

Datec. 1772

Made inNew York, New York, United States

MediumSilver

Dimensions1 7/16 × 11 7/8 × 11 1/2 in. (3.6 × 30.2 × 29.2 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Gloria Garic Anderson Endowment for Accessions

Object numberB.2025.4

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Metals Study Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

METALWORK

DescriptionLewis Fueter, born in 1746 in Bern, Switzerland, was the son of silversmith Daniel Christian Fueter. The family moved to London by 1752, where Daniel registered his mark with the Goldsmiths’ Company the following year. In 1754, he journeyed to New York with Moravian settlers, advertising his silversmithing services soon after. In 1769, the Fueters returned to New York, where Lewis became a freeman in 1775. He primarily served loyalist clients and British military during the American Revolution. After the British left in 1783, Lewis moved to Nova Scotia and then to Jamaica, where he tragically drowned in 1784, likely due to a hurricane.

This silver salver shows Lewis Fueter’s technical skill, specifically, those of hammering out a flat disc of perfect symmetry and uniform thickness and maintaining that uniformity through the process of adding the molded edge and feet.

Its engraving features the initials “A B,” those of New York merchant and patriot Abraham Brinckerhoff (1745–1823). The engraver of the monogram is not known, though it has been speculated that it may have been Henry Dawkins based on the cartouche’s similarity to one on a certificate that Dawkins engraved for Sir William Johnson. Another possibility is the Geneva engraver John Anthony Beau, who had worked with the elder Fueter and who later advertised his services as available through application to Lewis Fueter.
ProvenanceAbraham Brinckerhoff, New York (1745–1823); his widow, Dorothea Remsen Brinckerhoff (1750–1835); their daughter, Lucretia Lefferts Brinckerhoff Schermerhorn (1785–1851); her son, Alfred Newton Schermerhorn (1819–1878); his son, Alfred Egmont Schermerhorn (1871–1932); his son, Alfred Coster Schermerhorn (1898–1956); his daughter, Sheila Schermerhorn Scott (1931–2023); consigned by her heirs to [Weschler’s Auctioneers and Appraisers, Rockville, Maryland, September 27, 2024, lot 13]; purchased by Adam Goodheart, Centreville, Maryland; purchased by MFAH, 2025.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Initials engraved at top center: AB

Stamped on bottom in script letters within an irregular, conforming rectangle: L Fueter

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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