Work is currently underway at the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg on a new exhibition featuring more than 120 objects from the museum’s extensive collection of 17th-19th-century silver. Silver from Modest to Majestic will be on view in the museum’s newly relocated Mary Jewett Gaiser Silver Gallery, on the main floor of the museum, from May 24, 2025, through May 24, 2028.
Jason B. Copes
Fashioned for King William III of England sometime between 1691 and 1697, this chandelier hung in the Lodgings at St. James’s Palace in London. It is believed to have been sold for its silver value by King George III when it was seen as outdated. After remaining in private hands for more than a century, it was auctioned in 1924 to William Randolph Hearst, the prominent American newspaperman. Colonial Williamsburg acquired the chandelier shortly before WWII.
The exhibition’s scope is wide-ranging, from a 49-lb chandelier made for a monarch to a simple spoon made by a Williamsburg silversmith, all displayed in brilliantly lit cases against dark blue backgrounds. While silver has long been associated with wealth and aristocracy, the items featured in this exhibition were crafted for use in nearly every setting imaginable ranging from churches, classrooms, and kitchens to businesses, battlefields, and bedrooms.
Jason B. Copes
Paul Revere is the best-known American silversmith, partially due to his celebrated ride alarming the countryside of the British troops advancing on April 19, 1775. He almost certainly spent the first half of his career making silver, as well as supervising the work of others in his father’s shop, and then his own. Thanks to the rare survival of his record books, many of the objects made in the Revere shop are well-documented. A multi-purpose vessel for food and drink, porringers were popular in New England from the mid-17th century through the mid-19th century. Made in Revere’s shop towards the end of that era, this “keyhole” porringer was made for Nathaniel Gilman of Exeter, New Hampshire, and his first wife Abigail.
One thing that every piece on display has in common is a powerful story. Some are objects of great beauty created with the highest level of skill, while others have lengthy pedigrees. Knowing who made a piece and who used it lets Colonial Williamsburg curators pinpoint that object in a time and a place, and then bring it forward through history, allowing it to tell its tale.
“Collecting objects where we know the ‘who, when, and where’ of their manufacture, plus their provenance, allows us to exhibit silver items which transcend the differences between artistic, historical, and functional,” said Erik Goldstein, Colonial Williamsburg’s senior curator of mechanical arts, metals and numismatics. “These particular objects are the pinnacle of early silver, no matter how humble they may be.”
This new exhibition replaces the museum’s previous silver exhibition, Silver from Mine to Masterpiece, which was on view from 2015 to 2023. While the former exhibition had a larger percentage of British silver, nearly half of the objects on display in the new exhibition are examples of early American-made silver, many of which were created for everyday use by ordinary people.
Jason B. Copes
Many now-anonymous British women worked in the silversmithing trade, producing small items like buttons or finishing and polishing larger wares. Standing out is Hester Bateman, a female silversmith who ran a thriving business after the death of her husband. She specialized in affordable items aimed at the rising middle class. When Bateman retired in 1790, the business was carried on by her sons and one of her daughters-in-law.
Early colonists originally relied on imported British silver wares, but over time, the innovation, skill and entrepreneurship of those early American tradespeople resulted in the establishment of a robust and exciting cohort of American silversmiths producing items that were touched by everyone from elite to enslaved individuals.
“Our collection of British silver is justly famous, but our decision to build a collection of American silver terrifically advances the museums’ goal of telling the varied stories of so many different craftspeople and consumers, each of whom influenced the tastes and styles of colonial America,” said Grahame Long, executive director of collections and deputy chief curator.
Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg will experience firsthand how the pieces featured in Silver from Modest to Majestic connect to the lives of Williamsburg’s 18th-century residents. One item in the exhibition – a silver punch ladle, owned by the Prentis family of Williamsburg and passed down in the family for 250 years – served as the model for a reproduction punch ladle created by Williamsburg’s silversmiths that visitors will find in the corner cupboard at the Williamsburg Bray School after it opens to the public in June 2025. Archaeological records show that Ann Wager, headmistress of the Williamsburg Bray School, had punch wares.
“Having the Prentis family’s original ladle gave us a wonderful opportunity to reproduce a piece that we know was used by an 18th-century Williamsburg family and put it in the context of the Bray School where it helps to tell that story,” said Goldstein.
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Jason B. Copes
Colonial Virginians loved punch as much as anyone in London or the larger cities to the North and sought the appropriate ladles to complement their punch bowls. This worn and lovingly preserved ladle, believed to have been made locally, descended in the Prentis family of Williamsburg.
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Jason B. Copes
Colonial Virginians loved punch as much as anyone in London or the larger cities to the North and sought the appropriate ladles to complement their punch bowls. This worn and lovingly preserved ladle, believed to have been made locally, descended in the Prentis family of Williamsburg.
Other recently acquired highlights of the silver exhibition include the earliest-known Virginia-made horse racing trophy awarded to a horse named Madison in 1810; an Indian Peace medal struck by the U.S Mint during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency as a diplomatic gift for a Native American chief; and a church communion cup made in Massachusetts around 1670, the earliest piece of American silver in the Foundation’s collection.
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Jason B. Copes
The oldest piece of American-made silver in Colonial Williamsburg's collection, this vessel belonged to the communion service of the First Church of Christ, Congregational, in Farmington, Connecticut, from about 1670 until 2005. It is unique in that it carries the marks of the three earliest silversmiths known to have made silver articles in America.
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Jason B. Copes
The oldest piece of American-made silver in Colonial Williamsburg's collection, this vessel belonged to the communion service of the First Church of Christ, Congregational, in Farmington, Connecticut, from about 1670 until 2005. It is unique in that it carries the marks of the three earliest silversmiths known to have made silver articles in America.
These pieces will join some of the extraordinary older items from the collection including a cache of British silver made between 1765-1771 that was discovered in 1961 in a field near Suffolk, Virginia. While the origins of the buried treasure, and the reason that no one ever returned to retrieve it, remain unknown to this day, this collection is a reminder of the high monetary — and not just aesthetic ― value of silver in early America.
Jason B. Copes
The son of a Jewish refugee, Myer Myers was born in New York and likely apprenticed with a Huguenot silversmith. In 1746 he registered as a Freeman, permitting him to conduct retail trade, serve in public office, and vote. Myers formed associations with other silversmiths and specialist craftsmen, such as engravers, chasers, and piercers, which furthered the success of his rapidly growing business. Known as the leading silversmith of the city, Myers left behind more than 500 objects created in his shop. Perfectly proportioned and restrained in its decoration, canns of this elegant form were often ordered from many American silversmiths during the last half of the 18th century. This example, perhaps once one of a pair, bears the engraved initials of an unidentified married couple on the handle. It is thought 28 or so of Myers's silver canns survive.
The objects on display in Silver from Modest to Majestic represent the work of a few dozen known silversmiths including Paul Revere (1735-1818), a hero of the American Revolution who learned the trade of silversmithing from his father; Myer Myers (1723-1795), the son of a Jewish refugee who became known as the leading silversmith of New York; and Hester Bateman (1708-1794), a female silversmith in London who ran a thriving business after the death of her husband, specializing in affordable items aimed at the rising middle class.
Many items in the exhibition are unmarked, made by unknown makers including enslaved silversmiths. Even the items that are credited to known makers could have been made by smiths employed, apprenticed or enslaved to the master of the shop. To learn exactly how the items in Silver from Modest to Majestic were created, visitors to the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg can visit the Silversmith shop in Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area where artisan historians preserve the trade by practicing it as their 18th-century counterparts would have.
This exhibition is generously funded by The Mary Jewett Gaiser Silver Study Gallery Endowment. Admission to the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg is free. Additional information about the art museums, Colonial Williamsburg, and admission to the historic sites within the Historic Area is available online, by calling 855-296-6627 and by following CW on Facebook and Instagram.
About the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg
The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg include the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum, both of which are housed in their newly expanded building that offers an additional 65,000-square-feet of space, 25-percent more gallery space and numerous enhancements to the visitor experience. The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum is home to the nation’s premier collection of American folk art, with more than 7,000 folk art objects made up to the present day. The DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum exhibits the best in British and American fine and decorative arts from 1670–1840. The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg are located at 301 South Nassau Street in Williamsburg, Virginia. Open daily from 10 am to 5 pm.
About The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation preserves, restores and operates Virginia’s 18th-century capital of Williamsburg. Innovative and interactive experiences highlight the relevance of the American Revolution to contemporary life and the importance of an informed, active citizenry. The Colonial Williamsburg experience includes more than 600 restored or reconstructed original buildings, renowned museums of decorative arts and folk art, extensive educational outreach programs for students and teachers and 18th-century inspired culinary options from historic taverns situated along historic Duke of Gloucester Street. Colonial Williamsburg Resorts complement the experience, offering guests five unique hotel properties including the iconic Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star, AAA Five Diamond Williamsburg Inn, newly renovated Williamsburg Lodge-Autograph Collection, Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel and Suites, the Griffin Hotel, and authentic 18th-century Colonial Houses. The resort offers a range of events and amenities including four historic taverns, 15 food and beverage outlets providing exquisite culinary experiences from casual to elegant dining, the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club featuring 36 holes designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. and his son Rees Jones, a world-class full-service spa and fitness center, pools, meeting and flexible event spaces, and scenic gardens providing the perfect venue for weddings and special events. Merchants Square, built alongside the Historic Area in 1935 as one of the first planned shopping districts in the United States, features more than 40 specialty boutiques with products ranging from apparel to fine jewelry, art, specialty foods and gifts. Philanthropic support and revenue from admissions, products and hospitality operations sustain Colonial Williamsburg’s educational programs and preservation initiatives.
