Urn

Mathieu de Machy (French, master 1770, still living 1793)

1789

Object PlaceParis, France

Medium/TechniqueSilver and ebonized wood

DimensionsOverall: 41 × 24.1 × 14.3 cm (16 1/8 × 9 1/2 × 5 5/8 in.)
Troy weight: 77 troy ounces, 18 dwt

Credit LineGift of Miss Ellen Susan Bulfinch

Accession number16.223

On View

Not on view

ClassificationsSilver

Collections

Europe

InscriptionsIn bright-cut medallion: "To Charles Bulfinch Esqr Presented by the Catholics of Boston Jany 1, 1806"Provenance1806, given by the Catholics of Boston to Charles Bulfinch (b. 1763 - d. 1844), Boston [see note 1]; by descent to his son, Thomas Bulfinch (b. 1796 - d. 1867); bequeathed by Thomas Bulfinch to his brother, Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch (b. 1809 - d. 1870); by descent to his wife, Caroline Phelps Bulfinch (b. 1814 - d. 1904); 1904, by descent to her daughter, Ellen Susan Bulfinch (b. 1844); 1916, gift of Ellen Susan Bulfinch to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 8, 1916)

NOTES:
[1] A letter in the MFA curatorial file from Ellen Susan Bulfinch to Arthur Fairbanks of the MFA (June 4, 1916) details the provenance of the urn. Miss Bulfinch explains that her grandfather, the architect Charles Bulfinch, presented his plans for the Church of the Holy Cross (the first Roman Catholic church in Boston) on September 29, 1803 and that "in grateful recognition of Mr. Bulfinch's gift the silver urn, suitably inscribed, was presented to him." The urn is inscribed: "To Charles Bulfinch Esqr. / Presented by the Catholics of Boston / Jan.y 1, 1806."