Ladle
Wilmington, Delaware
1812
Maker
Henry J. Pepper (1789-1853)
Measurements
12-5/8 in x 4-1/2 in x 2-1/8 in
Materials
Silver
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of Chandlee Johnson Kuhn
Accession Number
2019.10
Inscription
“WRC” is engraved in script on the handle; the touchmark “H J PEPPER” in a rectangle is stamped into the back of the shaft.
Provenance
The ladle passed from William Fisher Corbit (1789–1827) and Rhoda Davis Corbit (1793–1821) through Isaac Davis (1765–1856) to Rhoda’s sister Ann Eliza Davis Budd (1808–1888). It then descended to James Marshall Budd (1841–1913), to Thomas Allibone Budd (1890–1968), and to Susan Allibone Budd (b. 1929) before being donated by her children. For more silver that descended through the same people, see the silver tea service, accession no. 2017.103.1-.6.
Comments
The wide oval bowl attaches to a handle with a fiddle-shaped end. The monogram at the end of the handle is very similar to those on a six-piece tea and coffee service (accession no. 2017.103.1-.6) made by Philadelphia silversmiths Liberty Browne and William Seal Jr. for William Fisher Corbit and Rhoda Davis Corbit, who were married in 1812.
Henry J. Pepper worked in Wilmington from about 1810 to 1827. He worked in Philadelphia from about 1828 to 1850.
Bibliography
Zimmerman, A Storied Past
Philip D. Zimmerman, A Storied Past: Collections of Historic Odessa (Odessa, DE: Historic Odessa Foundation, 2023), p. 213, fig. 94.