Tankard

John Noyes was the son of a minister and a member of the Third, or Old South, Church and later a founder of the Brattle Street Church. He was well known to diarist Samuel Sewall, who, along with the silversmith, his father, and his brother Oliver Noyes, was a member of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. Sewall awarded a silver cup to John Noyes for his superior marksmanship during a training day held by the company in May 1702.

In 1691 Sewall had recorded in his diary that Noyes had accepted borax on behalf of Jeremiah Dummer. It is unclear why Sewall would have brought borax, a material used as flux in silversmithing, to Dummer. However, in recording its receipt, Sewall helped document Noyes’s apprenticeship by placing him in Dummer’s employ at about age seventeen.

Less than thirty objects have survived bearing Noyes’s mark. Yet, his level of accomplishment is clear from the variety of forms he fashioned — candlesticks, forks, beakers, and salvers — all of which demonstrate a high degree of skill in casting, decorative details, and finishing. This tankard was one of at least nine he made; many carry the dolphin-and-mask thumbpiece on a flat-topped lid. This thumbpiece is identical to one on a simpler example in the Museum’s collection, which has a plain shield-shaped terminal. When inventoried in the 1813 estate of David Parker, Esq., the first known owner, this tankard was valued at $30. It was the only piece of silver hollowware recorded in Parker’s estate, along with seven silver spoons and twelve teaspoons.

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.