Banner holder

A rarity in American silver, this banner holder was presumably made for a member of the Cambridge Light Infantry, a local militia unit that traces its origins to the seventeenth century. Although unmarked, it was probably made in the Boston area. It is one of only two such examples in the Museum’s collection.

The other (06.2402) is crescent shaped and has a brass back plate; it is engraved “The Property of the Housewrights of the Town of Boston” and bears the date 1816. The Society of Housewrights of the Town of Boston, founded in 1804, was a fraternal mutual-aid organization comprised of members of the building trades, including carpenters and architects. Members included Asher Benjamin, Solomon Willard, Ithiel Town, and Alexander Parris, among many others. It dissolved in 1837.

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.