Whistle and Bells for Mary Duane North Maker: Daniel Christian Fueter (American, born Switzerland, 1720–1785)
Patron: Mary Thong Livingston, American, 1711–1765

1761–65

American Decorative Arts

On view, 1st floor, American Decorative Arts before 1900

With bells to jangle, a whistle to blow, and a piece of coral for teething, objects like this distracted fussy children. Coral was also believed to ward off evil, an especially important attribute at a time of high infant mortality. Most whistle and bells were made of silver; this is one of two known American examples in gold. Mary Livingston presented this whistle and bells to her granddaughter and namesake, Mary Duane, shortly after her birth in 1761. The Livingston and Duane families were among New York’s landowning elite. It was made by Daniel Christian Fueter, a Swiss-born goldsmith active in New York. He specialized in elaborate luxury items in the Rococo taste and counted among his clients many of the colony’s leading families.

Medium

Gold and coral

Dimensions

L. 5 3/16 in. (13.2 cm), 2 oz., 6 dwt. (71 gm)

Credit Line

Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, Gift of Mrs. Francis P. Garvan, James R. Graham, Walter M. Jeffords, B.A. 1905, and Mrs. Paul Moore

Accession Number

1942.91

Geography

Made in New York, New York

Culture

American

Period

18th century

Classification

Jewelry

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
Commissioned by Mary Livingston (neé Mary Thong, 1711–1765) for Mary Duane (later Mary North, 1761–1813) New York, 1761–65; by inheritance to her daughter Mary Weston (neé Mary Catherine North, 1822–1882), Summit, N.J., by 1865; by inheritance to her daughter Mary Austin (Mrs. F. B. Austin, neé Mary North Weston, 1851–1916), Summit, N.J., 1882; New York, New York; by inheritance to her son William Austin (1876–1938), Summit, N.J., then Yonkers, N.Y., 1916; sold to James Graham & Sons (founded 1857), New York, 1936; sold to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 1942 [note 1]

Note 1: Acquisition funded through gifts from Mabel Brady Garvan (Mrs. Francis P. Garvan), James R. Graham, Walter M. Jeffords, and Fanny Hanna Moore (Mrs. Paul Moore).
Bibliography
  • Helen A. Cooper et al., Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: American Art from the Yale University Art Gallery, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2008), 195, no. 102, ill
  • Sarah D. Coffin and Penelope Hunter-Stiebel, Rococo: The Continuing Curve, 1730–2008 (New York: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2008), 128–29, fig. 51
  • David L. Barquist, Myer Myers: Jewish Silversmith in Colonial New York, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2001), 207, no. 107, ill
  • Susan B. Matheson, Art for Yale: A History of the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2001), 100, fig. 93
  • Martha Gandy Fales, Jewelry in America, 1600–1900, 1st (Suffolk, England: Antique Collector's Club Ltd., 1995), 58, fig. 32
  • Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 106, ill
  • David B. Warren et al., Marks of Achievement: Four Centuries of American Presentation Silver, ed. Ellyn Childs Allison, exh. cat. (New York: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1987), 67–68, no. 43, fig. 68
  • Gerald W. R. Ward, "Elegance in Revolutionary America," Craft Horizons XXXVI, no. 2 (1976), 55, ill
  • Charles F. Montgomery and Patricia E. Kane, eds., American Art: 1750–1800 Towards Independence, exh. cat. (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1976), 196–97, fig. 151
  • Graham Hood, American Silver: A History of Style, 1650–1900 (New York: Praeger, 1971), 132–33, fig. 134
  • Kathryn C. Buhler and Graham Hood, American Silver in the Yale University Art Gallery, 2 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1970), vol. 2, pp. 134–35, no. 716, ill
  • Peter J. Bohan, "Early American Gold," Antiques 88 (December 1965), 816
  • Peter J. Bohan, American Gold, 1700–1860, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1963), 10, 30, no. 24, fig. 24
  • Bernice Ball, "Whistles with Coral and Bells," Antiques 80, no. 6 (December 1961), 554–55, fig. 8
  • Kathryn C. Buhler, Colonial Silversmiths, Masters and Apprentices, exh. cat. (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1956), 76, no. 182
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Marks

"DCF" [Roman] in relief within oval and "N:/ YORK" in relief within conforming punch (on underside of mouthpiece)

Inscriptions

"THE GIFT OF M[RS superscript] MARY LIVINGSTON / TO HER GRANDDAUGHTER MARY DUANE" engraved on end above coral

Technical metadata and APIs

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