11-06-200511-06-2005
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
2297Boston
November 6, 2005 11:00 AMCalender
350

Silver Salver

Sell one like this
$99,500$85,000
Auction: American Furniture & Decorative Arts - 2297Location: BostonDate / Time: November 06, 2005 11:00AM

Description:

Silver Salver, Myer Myers, (1723-1795),New York City, circular flat tray with applied molded edge consisting of cyma-recta cyma-reversa curves, with six shells and C scrolls, short cabriole legs with pad feet, marked "Myers" in script in a conforming surround, struck twice on the underside of tray, ht. 1 1/4, dia. 8 1/4 in., approx. 11 troy oz.

Note: Born in 1723 in New York City, Myer Myers was the most prolific silversmith in New York during the last half of the eighteenth century. After completing the traditional seven-year apprenticeship with a master silversmith he registered as a Goldsmith 1746, making him the first native Jew within the British Empire to establish himself as a working silversmith since the incorporation of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in 1327. Through a beneficial business partnership and a marriage to the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Myers' business thrived. The clientele for his Rococo-style objects included New York's wealthy elite-top political, social and financial leaders. He also had several patrons who were fellow Jews and preferred less ornate works. Myers' business suffered interruption in the summer of 1776, when the American Revolution came to New York. General Washington made New York his headquarters; British troops bombarded the city. Myers and his family, along with other Jewish families moved to Norwalk, Connecticut, thinking that the enemy would never come to such a small, insignificant place. Unfortunately, they were mistaken, and in 1779 British troops burned down the village, leaving Myers homeless and without his tools. Finally settling in Stratford, Connecticut, for the remainder of the war, Myers started working again as a silversmith, adopting the Neoclassical aesthetic of the New Republic. His business was not nearly as successful after the war, but his peers still held him in high regard, making him chairman of the newly formed Gold and Silver Smith's Society in 1785. He remained active in the Jewish community and died at the age of 72 in 1795. Works of his are now found in major museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Harvard University Art Galleries.
Estimate $20,000-30,000

Keywords

silversmith , New York City, C, prolific silversmith , Worshipful Company, working silversmith , Connecticut, Norwalk, Stratford, the New Republic, Gold and Silver Smith's Society, chairman , Harvard University, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art