Teaspoons Probably Owned by Hugh Hall Maker: Simeon Soumaine (American, born England, baptized 1685–ca. 1750)

ca. 1720–30

American Decorative Arts

By appointment, Wurtele Study Center

In 1727 the Huguenot silversmith Simeon Soumaine advertised "gold work," including "tea-spoons, skimmer, and tongues." These teaspoons, together with a skimmer (1935.241), are from a different set made by Soumaine and are the only gold flatware to survive from the colonial period. Diminutive in scale, they would have been dazzling accoutrements for the newly fashionable custom of serving tea. They were likely owned by Hugh Hall, who was born in Barbados—then the richest British colony in the Americas—and settled in Boston. He established a flourishing trade in Barbados rum, sugar, and enslaved people, the proceeds of which enabled the purchase of luxury goods like gold tea wares.

Medium

Gold

Dimensions

4 in. (10.2 cm) ea.

Credit Line

Mabel Brady Garvan Collection

Accession Number

1935.242a-h

Geography

Made in New York, New York

Culture

American

Period

18th century

Classification

Flatware

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Hugh Hall (1693–1773), Boston, by 1750 [note 1]; by descent to his daughter Sarah Clark (née Sarah Hall, 1739–1801), Boston then Middletown, Conn., by 1733; by descent to her daughter Mary “Polly” Baury (née Mary Clark, 1767–1856), Middletown, Conn., then Boston, by 1801; by descent to her daughter Mary Brown Baury (1800–1882), Newton, Mass., by 1856 [note 2]. Giulia Pertinax Morosini (1864–1932), New York, by 1932; sale, American Art Association Anderson Galleries, October 10–15 1932, lot 1670; sold to Robert Ensko, Inc. (founded 1878), New York, October 15, 1932; sold to Anna Maria Brix (Mrs. Maurice Brix, née Anna Maria Schmid, 1882–after 1960), Philadelphia, March 4, 1933. Walter M. Jeffords (1883–1960), Glen Riddle, Penn., by 1935; sold to Francis P. Garvan (1875–1937), New York, 1935; given to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1935

Note 1: Hugh Hall was born in Barbados and maintained familial and mercantile connections there after relocating to Boston. An inventory of Hall’s property taken on June 25, 1750 records “12 ditto [teaspoons], tongs, and strainer Gilt” (copy in curatorial object file).

Note 2: Mary Brown Baury’s will, proved November 20, 1882, notes “my set of gold tea-spoons I wish to be kept together, and that my said three nieces and my nephew should determine by lot which shall own them” (copy in curatorial object file). The said three nieces are Pauline Baury Otis (1830–1863), Elizabeth P. Baury (1835–1914), and Caroline Haywood Baury Bradford (1836–1912) and the nephew is Frederic Francis Baury (1843–1888). The line of inheritance is unclear as Bradford’s will does not spell out individual bequests and estate documents for the other three family members have yet to be located.
Bibliography
  • Martha Gandy Fales, Early American Silver for the Cautious Collector (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1970), 59, fig. 55
  • Kathryn C. Buhler and Graham Hood, American Silver in the Yale University Art Gallery, 2 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1970),
  • Peter J. Bohan, "Early American Gold," Antiques 88 (December 1965), 813, fig. 5
  • Peter J. Bohan, American Gold, 1700–1860, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1963), 30, no. 28, ill
  • John Marshall Phillips, "Outstanding Examples from the Mabel Brady Garvan Collections," Bulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale University 8, no. 2 (February 1938), 43, ill
  • V. Isabelle Miller, Silver by New York Makers, Late 17th Century to 1900, exh. cat. (New York: Museum of the City of New York, 1937), 29, 64, no. 288, ill
  • John Marshall Phillips, "Additions to the Garvan Collection of Silver," Bulletin of the Associates in Fine Arts at Yale University 8, no. 1 (June 1937), 19, ill
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

teaspoons

Marks

"H", under five-petaled flower, on back of each handle

Inscriptions

"S.S." in square on back of each handle, incomplete

Technical metadata and APIs

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