Samuel Kirk & Son
Medal

MakerAmerican, active 1846–1861; 1868–1896
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Medal
Datec. 1850
Made inBaltimore, Maryland, United States
MediumSilver
Dimensions5 x 6 in. (12.7 x 15.2cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Bayou Bend Docent Organization
Object numberB.88.22
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Metals Study Room
On view

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Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This award medal is inscribed to “Miss J. Jones” a young African-American woman, and recognizes her proficiency at needlework. It was presented by Dr. Daniel Alexander Payne (1811–1893), a prominent leader in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1849, he organized the first “Literary and Artistic Demonstration for the Encouragement of Literature and the Fine Arts among the Colored Population” in an effort to cultivate artistic talents through the church.

Technical notes: The medal’s face and rims comprise three separate components soldered together.

Adapted from 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.


ProvenanceProbably Jane E. Jones (b. c. 1832), Rockerle, Montgomery County, Maryland; private collection, California; [Argentum Antiques, San Francisco]; purchased by MFAH, 1988.
Exhibition History"Sankofa: African American Arts and Material Culture," at Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore, MD, September 22, 1995–March 3 1996, ( LN:95.35).

"Exhibited As We Are”: Fighting Racism with Art in the Age of Slavery,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bayou Bend, April 29–August 16, 2015.



Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed on face: Awarded to me by the Rev. D.A. Payne [with an easel, palette, lyre, song book, and quill pen]
Inscribed on reverse: To / Miss J. Jones, / for the 2d[d superscript] best piece of / Embroidery at the 1st..[st superscript with two periods [..] underneath] / Lit.& Artistic Demonstration / among People of Colour / in U.S.A. / February 25th..[th superscript with two periods [..] underneath] / 1850
Marked on face near rim: SK & SON. [incuse] and 11.OZ in a rectangular recess
Marked incuse on rim: S.KIRK & SON and 11OZ. [Goldsborough 1983, o. 264, no. 164, bottom]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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