The inverted bell- or tulip-shaped beaker, with its low center of gravity and broad base, was the successor to the squatter flat-bottomed tunns or beakers of the seventeenth century (see cat. no. 70). Such vessels were made in large quantities for Congregational churches and often assembled over years through gifts and bequests. Many churches owned at least two beakers, and often more, which were passed among the congregants to drink sacramental wine. Jacob Hurd made this beaker in 1744 through the legacy of deacon William Trowbridge. E. Alfred Jones speculated that it was remade from a silver tankard that Trowbridge had left to his wife, Sarah, but that cannot be proved. It was not until 1768 that a second beaker, made by Samuel Minott, joined this example in the church’s collection.

This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.

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