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Urn
Marked by: Mathieu de Machy (French, master 1770, still living 1793)
French (Paris)
1789
Object Place: Europe, Paris, France
Medium/Technique
Silver and ebonized wood
Dimensions
Overall: 41 × 24.1 × 14.3 cm (16 1/8 × 9 1/2 × 5 5/8 in.)
Troy weight: 77 troy ounces, 18 dwt
Troy weight: 77 troy ounces, 18 dwt
Credit Line
Gift of Miss Ellen Susan Bulfinch
Accession Number16.223
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSilver
DescriptionTriangular plinth with cut corners and concave sides standing on three ball feet. Tongue and dart molding on upper edge, beading on lower edge. Vase shaped body with incurving, octagonal legs ending in paw feet and cast leaf decoration where they join the body of the urn. Engraved band of scrolling foliage around rim. Angular handles end in cast leaves. Octagonal spigot extends from a bearded mask. High domed cover with tongue and dart edge, concave to cylindrical section with engraving and molding, plain above to flat top to which two cast doves are attached. Cylindrical lamp with flaring, molded base has a turned wood handle extending from a straight socket. Oil well and wick holder in two parts inside, flat-top cover with concave sides and a small finial.
Marks
In cover, in cover of lamp, and on bottom under plinth: charge, year, and maker. On top and bezel of cover, on edge, wick-holder, and cover of lamp, edge of plinth: discharge mark; on bezel of cover, edge, well, wick-holder, and cover of lamp, on rim, and on edge of plinth: census mark with 1798-1809.
InscriptionsIn bright-cut medallion: "To Charles Bulfinch Esqr Presented by the Catholics of Boston Jany 1, 1806"
Provenance1806, given by the Catholics of Boston to Charles Bulfinch (b. 1763 - d. 1844), Boston [see note 1]; by descent to his son, Thomas Bulfinch (b. 1796 - d. 1867); bequeathed by Thomas Bulfinch to his brother, Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch (b. 1809 - d. 1870); by descent to his wife, Caroline Phelps Bulfinch (b. 1814 - d. 1904); 1904, by descent to her daughter, Ellen Susan Bulfinch (b. 1844); 1916, gift of Ellen Susan Bulfinch to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 8, 1916)
NOTES:
[1] A letter in the MFA curatorial file from Ellen Susan Bulfinch to Arthur Fairbanks of the MFA (June 4, 1916) details the provenance of the urn. Miss Bulfinch explains that her grandfather, the architect Charles Bulfinch, presented his plans for the Church of the Holy Cross (the first Roman Catholic church in Boston) on September 29, 1803 and that "in grateful recognition of Mr. Bulfinch's gift the silver urn, suitably inscribed, was presented to him." The urn is inscribed: "To Charles Bulfinch Esqr. / Presented by the Catholics of Boston / Jan.y 1, 1806."
NOTES:
[1] A letter in the MFA curatorial file from Ellen Susan Bulfinch to Arthur Fairbanks of the MFA (June 4, 1916) details the provenance of the urn. Miss Bulfinch explains that her grandfather, the architect Charles Bulfinch, presented his plans for the Church of the Holy Cross (the first Roman Catholic church in Boston) on September 29, 1803 and that "in grateful recognition of Mr. Bulfinch's gift the silver urn, suitably inscribed, was presented to him." The urn is inscribed: "To Charles Bulfinch Esqr. / Presented by the Catholics of Boston / Jan.y 1, 1806."