Punch Strainer

1743–60

William Simpkins
American, 1704–1780
Boston

By the mid-18th century, fashionable society in American began to rival the gentry in Europe and England. Popular entertainment included afternoon punch, and proper equipage such as punch bowls, ladles, and strainers, which were fashioned out of silver, became a necessity for the affluent patron who wished to impress guests. Traditionally, punch was made from five ingredients: water, sugar, lemon or other fruit juices, spices, and sprits (usually rum).

Status: On View, Gallery 167
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: William Simpkins
Title: Punch Strainer
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. 1743–1760
Medium: Silver
Inscriptions: Marked on each handle: W. Simpkins Engraved on tip of one handle and on other handle: P / T • H
Dimensions: 2.9 × 27.4 × 11.4 cm (1 1/8 × 10 3/4 × 4 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of the Antiquarian Society through Mrs. C. Phillip Miller
Reference Number: 1943.799
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/89981/manifest.json

E.E. Johnson, “Two Silver Punch Strainers,” Bulletin of The Art Institute of Chicago 37, 7 (December, 1943), 100–01 (ill.).
The Antiquarian Society (Art Institute of Chicago, 1951), no. 57 (ill.).
Patricia E. Kane et al., Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers (New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 1998) p. 897.
Judith A. Barter, Elizabeth McGoey, et al., American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016), cat. 23 (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. 23 (ill.).

Milwaukee Art Institute, Tradition of American Silver, Feb. 13–Mar. 19, 1953, cat. 15.
Art Institute of Chicago, The Antiquarian Society: The First One Hundred Years, Apr. 23–June 19, 1977, cat. 178 (ill.).

Captain Thomas Poynton (1711-1781) and his second wife, Hannah Bray (1718-1811; m. 1743), Salem, MA; by descent to her grand-nephew Thomas Poynton Ives (1769-1835); by descent to his great-grand-daughter Edith Hope (Goddard) Iselin (1868-1970), Providence, before 1943. William M. Jacobs, Newton Center, MA, by 1943; sold to Florence Lowden Miller (1898-1988; also Mrs. C Phillip Miller), Chicago, 1943; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1943.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Suggested Terms

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

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.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

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.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

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.