Coffee pot (part of a three-piece coffee service)

c. 1808

Maker

Thomas McConnell (1768–1825)

Measurements

11-3/8 in x 13-7/8 in x 5-3/8

Materials

Silver, fruitwood (handle)

Credit Line

On loan from Winterthur, gift of Mrs. Earle R. Crowe

Accession Number

1972.108

Inscription

“AJ” is engraved in script on both sides of each body; “M:CONNELL” is stamped into each foot ring, twice on the sugar bowl; “A J 1806 TO M.C.W. 1847 TO M.C.C. 1876” is engraved around the inside of the coffeepot foot, “A J [obliterated by a possible repair] 1806 to M.W.C. 1806-1847 to M.C.W. 1876” is engraved inside the cream pot foot. The sugar bowl has no engraving inside the foot.

Condition Notes

The coffeepot is bent slightly backward in the direction of the handle. The wood handle has been repaired and painted black.

Provenance

The coffee service was originally owned by Ann Jefferis (1791–1822). Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner. See the text for its complicated ownership history.

Comments

The three-piece coffee service (acc. nos. 1972.108, 1972.109, and 1972.110) is engraved with the initials of Ann Jefferis, who married David Wilson Jr. in 1808.  She died in 1822, seven years before her husband declared bankruptcy and had to sell all of his assets to satisfy debts. At the 1829 auction of his furnishings, Ann’s mother, Deborah Hunt Jefferis, who likely gave this silver to Ann initially, reacquired it and, given its subsequent ownership, likely returned it to the family through gift to Ann’s only surviving child, Mary, who was the mother of Mrs. Warner, the donor.  Mrs. Warner had the ownership history engraved insides of the feet of the coffeepot and the creamer.

The sugar bowl appears to have McConnell’s maker’s mark struck over an existing mark.  This evidence suggests that he may have started with an existing sugar bowl and copied its features for the coffee and cream pots.  That might explain differences between the handles of the creamer and sugar bowl, including a slightly different overall shape, a different molding profile on the outside of the strap, and a different scroll device applied to the lower back.

Bibliography

Robert L. Raley, “Restoration of the David Wilson Mansion,” Delaware Antiques Show catalogue (Wilmington, Del., December 1968), pp. 67, 69.

Ian M.G. Quimby, American Silver at Winterthur (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1995), cat. 408.

Zimmerman, A Storied Past, pp. 214-215.