Nutmeg grater
Ebenezer Moulton
(American, 1768–1824)
1806–1814
Object PlaceBoston or Newburyport, Massachusetts, United States
Medium/TechniqueSilver
Dimensions7.62 x 6.35 cm (3 x 2 1/2 in.)
Credit LineGift of Richard Edwards
Accession number1972.517
On View
Not on viewClassificationsSilver hollowware
Collections
This small but elegant nutmeg grater was owned originally by Elizabeth Derby and was probably commissioned by her after her notorious divorce from Nathaniel West in 1806 and before her death in 1814. It was a small part of a diverse range of American-made and imported English silver and Sheffield plate owned by the wealthy Derby-West family of Salem and Danvers.
This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.
ProvenanceProbably owned originally by Elizabeth Derby (1762 – 1814), m. Nathaniel West in 1783. Descended in the family and included as part of a large body of Derby-West family material, much of it owned originally in the mansion known as Oak Hill and given by the donor in 1972.
