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Coffeepot

(English (London), free 1722, first mark 1724–before about 1773)
1745/1746
Medium/TechniqueSilver, wood handle
DimensionsHeight x width (over spout and handle): 10 3/4 x 10 in. (27.3 x 25.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Peter B. and Beverly Sills Greenough
Accession number2007.251
On View
On view
ClassificationsSilver
Collections
Description
Representative of an elegant English Rococo form and type of decoration, this coffeepot bears a distinguished Boston provenance.  It is engraved with the coat of arms of John Hancock, (1737-1793), first governor of Massachusetts, and, by tradition, was presented by his widow to Sarah Greenough, her grand-niece, and then passed by descent.
ProvenanceProbably John Hancock (b. 1737 - d. 1793), Boston; by inheritance to his widow, Dorothy Quincy Hancock (b. 1747 - d. 1830), Boston; given by Dorothy Quincy Hancock to her grand-niece, Sarah Gardner Greenough (b. 1798), Boston [see note 1]; by descent within the family to Peter B. and Beverly Sills Greenough, New York; 2007, gift of the Greenoughs to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 21, 2007)

NOTES:
[1] The coffee pot is engraved with the Hancock coat-of-arms and inscribed: "Presented by John Hancock's widow to her grand-niece, Sarah Greenough."
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