Presentation Pieces in the Museum of History and Technology Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Paper No. 47 [Smithsonian Institution]

Excerpt

The custom of giving a piece of silver to an individual in recognition of service or in appreciation of accomplishment probably began as soon as man developed the fashioning of that metal into objects. Such a presentation piece was a tangible and durable form of recognition which could be appreciated, used, displayed, and enjoyed by the recipient. Many of these silver pieces became for succeeding generations the cherished evidence of recognition accorded to an ancestor, and they were preserved long after the more customary family silver had worn out or been lost.

The Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of History and Technology has what may well be the most varied and extensive collection of such presentation pieces ever to be preserved and exhibited in one place. The collection contains the work of some of the more prominent American silversmiths, but most of the pieces are by lesser known makers and are in the collection because of historic interest rather than artistic merit. The chief usefulness of the collection lies in its value as a social document and in the mute evidence it gives of the taste and craftsmanship of the periods covered. The collection is also helpful in dating type specimens that do not have specific associations with persons and dates. Perhaps even more interesting than the gamut of styles that the collection presents is the panorama of deeds, events, and persons that our forebears considered worthy of recognition. Silver presentation pieces were awarded to persons in almost every walk of life––to military men, to peace-loving Indians, and to men who achieved success in politics and agriculture. They were given for sea rescues, for heroic deeds by firemen and school-patrol boys, and for outstanding community and civic work. Within our time they have been given as trophies for excellence in athletics, automobile racing, and many other events.

Figure 2.––Snuffbox inlaid with mother-of-pearl and horn made around 1769 by William Cario, who worked in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The box measures 27⁄8 × 21⁄8 × 1⁄2 inches. Bequest of Arthur Michaels. In Division of Cultural History. (Acc. 162866, cat. 383486; Smithsonian photo 36941.)

Silversmiths have been making presentation pieces from the earliest days of our country, but the Smithsonian Institution has only a few 18th-century pieces in its collection.

The earliest of these is an inlaid silver snuffbox () made by William Cario, who worked in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, about 1763. The oval box––evidently a gift to the silversmith’s second wife, Lydia Croxford, whom he married in 1768––has inscribed on its base “The property of Lydia Cario” and “1769.” The cover has an undersurface of horn, and the silver on the outer surface is inlaid with mother-of-pearl and tortoise shell in a filigree pattern.

Many of the earliest pieces of presentation silver were made for use in churches, and they were given by groups as well as by individuals. Representative of this type is a silver alms plate with the following inscription on the rim:

The Gift of the Honble thomas hancock esqr to the church in Brattle Street Boston 1764....