Baptismal Basin

c. 1756

Samuel Edwards
American, 1705–1762
Boston

Baptismal basins, which were traditional European forms, were introduced into America in the early 18th century. The form was impervious to the stylistic changes of the century. Although this basin was crafted in 1755, the plain style, with its broad rim and thin banding around the edge, evokes designs of the earlier part of the century.

Status: On View, Gallery 166
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Samuel Edwards
Title: Baptismal Basin
Place: Boston (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1756
Medium: Silver
Inscriptions: Marked center of interior of bowl, under a crown and above a device in shaped shield: S . E Engraved around rim of basin: The Bequest of Mr. John Willis to the Church of Christ in Medford 1755
Dimensions: 7.5 × 30.1 cm (2 15/16 × 12 1/16 in.)
Credit Line: J. Peter McCormick Fund
Reference Number: 1988.445
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/72803/manifest.json

E. Alfred Jones, The Old Silver of American Churches (Letchworth, England: Arden Press, 1913) p. 277.
Patricia E. Kane, Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers (New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 1998) p. 446.
Judith A. Barter et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Art Institute of Chicago, 1998), 75–76, no. 20.
Judith A. Barter, Elizabeth McGoey, et al., American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016), cat. 28 (ill.).
Elizabeth McGoey, ed., American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2018), https://publications.artic.edu/americansilver/reader/collection/section/6, cat. 28 (ill.).

Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, American Church Silver of the 17th and 18th Centuries, with a Few PIeces of Domestic Plate, Jul–Dec, 1911, cat. 454 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Spiritual Expressions: Art for Private Comtemplation and Public Celebration, Nov. 22, 1995–Mar. 17, 1996, brochure only (ill.).

John Willis (1681-1755), by 1755; bequeathed by him to the First Parish Church, Medford, MA, 1755-1988; with Firestone and Parson, Boston, 1988, sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1988.

Cat. 28 Baptismal Basin, c. 1756

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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