Sauceboat

1750–1763

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

Silver

Overall: 7 1/2 × 4 3/4 × 4 1/4 in., 12 oz (troy) 11.4 dwt (19.1 × 12.1 × 10.8 cm, 391 g)

Gift of Constance Schermerhorn Skillin

1937.198

This sauceboat closely resembles London examples from the early 1750s. The sauceboat form was introduced into England in the second decade of the eighteenth century as part of a larger revolution in dining brought about by emulation of French aristocratic dining practices and the influx of Continental craftsmen. The partially obscured makers mark appears to be that of Bartholomew Le Roux II, son of Charles Le Roux, the official silversmith to the New York City Common Council between 1720 and 1743, and grandson of Bartholomew Le Roux, the first goldsmith of non-Dutch ancestry to work in New York City. According to family history, the sauceboat belonged to German immigrant David Grim (1737-1826), who was proprietor of the Hessian Coffee House, a popular meeting place for German émigrés.

DescriptionWrought silver sauceboat; deep, oval boat-shaped body, with a flared and serrated rim and long, high and wide pouring lip; double c-scroll handle with an acanthus grip and fork terminus joined to and curved above the rim; three cast cabriole legs with trefoil knees and double pad feet; engraved, "G" in foliate script on the front center of the body; maker's mark stamped in the center of the bowl.

MarkingsStamped: "B LR" (conjoined LR) in an oval struck once inside bowl

InscribedEngraved: front center: "G" in foliate script; engraved on underside: "G" in block letter; "PG / MIS / CAS" in script

ClassificationsSILVER