Artist/Maker Benjamin Wynkoop (ca. 1675-1751)

Tankard

ca. 1712

Place madeNew York, New York, United States, North America

Silver

Overall: 8 × 7 3/8 × 5 1/4 in., 29 oz (troy) 18.6 dwt (20.3 × 18.7 × 13.3 cm, 930.9 g)
Part (base): 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm)

Gift of Mrs. Arthur T. Sutcliffe

1952.109

Silver tankards held great meaning for colonial Americans. This example, described by the donor as a "wedding tankard," was presented to Cornelia De Peyster (1690-1756) and Oliver Stephen Teller (1685-1729), who married in New York City in 1712. This tankard descended in the family to Margaret Teller Van Kleeck (1808-1888), who was probably responsible for converting it from a drinking vessel to a pitcher with the addition of a spout. Spouting of tankards was common during the temperance movement as temperance advocates promoted water as a substitute for alcoholic beverages. When the tankard was donated to the Historical Society by Margaret Teller Van Kleeck's granddaughter in 1952, it still had the nineteenth-century spout. By that time, these later additions were viewed as aesthetic (and monetary) liabilities, and in 1962, the N-YHS had the spout of the Teller tankard removed.

DescriptionWrought silver tankard; circular body with straight sides tapered from applied, molded, baseband with a chain-link at the bottom, meander wire midway and an applied band of stamped leaves above; applied, molded, flared lip; stepped flat cover, with a serrated and engraved leaf border flange at front; corkscrew thumbpiece and molded hinge-plate with chain-link and trifid-shaped, engraved drop; scroll handle with cast, scalloped terminal in the form of a female head over clasped hands, with a ram's head below and a caryatid figure at each side; initials "T/ O*C" engraved in block letters on the handle; "Q" engraved on the base; maker's marks stamped below rim, left of the handle and on the lid.

Markings"WK / B" in heart surround struck twice on body near rim and twice on cover; "T / O C" engraved on handle

ClassificationsSILVER