Gold Snuff Box
Jacob Hurd
(American, 1702 or 1703–1758)
About 1730–40
Object PlaceBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Medium/TechniqueGold
Dimensions6.83 cm (2 11/16 in.)
Credit LineCharles Hitchcock Tyler Residuary Fund and Helen Alice Colburn Fund
Accession number46.57
On View
On viewClassificationsSilver hollowware
Collections
This box is a rare example of a colonial Boston gold vessel; early American silversmiths' work in gold usually was confined to rings and other small pieces of jewelry. The box was made for Massachusetts lieutenant governor William Dummer and is engraved with his family coat of arms.
ProvenanceBuhler Entry: Lieutenant Governor William Dummer (1678-1761), m. Katherine, daughter of Governor Joseph Dudley, April 26, 1714; bequeathed to his nephew William Powell, son of Anna Dummer and John Powell (m. May 12, 1714); descended in the family until it was eventually purchased from Nathaniel Hamlen, February 1946, for $6,000.
