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Tablespoon
Daniel Parker (1726–1785)
1774
Object Place: Boston, Massachusetts
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
4.1 x 21.7 cm (1 5/8 x 8 9/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Miss Martha May Eliot and Miss Abigail Adams Eliot
Accession Number1971.319
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsSilver flatware
This spoon, the survivor of six given to the Rev. Moses Everett by the “Dorchester Ladies,” presumably a church group affiliated with First Church, Dorchester, was probably intended as a wedding gift. He was married two months after his arrival at the Dorchester church.
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.
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.
DescriptionThe spoon has a downturned rounded handle tip with short midrib on back and a rectangular stem. A rounded drop and worn eleven-ribbed shell decoration appear on back of the elliptical bowl.
Marks
Marked "D [bullet] Parker" in roman letters within rectangle on back of stem.
InscriptionsEngraved in roman letters on the perimeter of handle tip "THE GIFT OF THE DORCHESTER LADYS." At center of handle tip are the initials "E / M = L." On back of handle, below midrib is inscribed "1774."
ProvenancePresented by the “Ladies of Dorchester,” members of First Parish, Dorchester, to the Rev. Moses Everett (1750 – 1813) and his bride-to-be, Lucy Balch (1748 – 1776), m. November 24, 1774. By descent to Everett’s son Francis Everett (1795 – 1835), the child of his third wife, Hannah Clap (also Clapp) (1759 – 1819), and thence to his daughter Mary C. Everett (1824 – post 1901) and William Page Barnard (1812 – 1858), m. 1854.1 Made a gift by Mary C. Everett to “Mr. Eliot,” presumably the Rev. Christopher Rhodes Eliot, pastor of the First Church, Dorchester, about 1888; by descent to his daughters, the donors.