Artist/Maker Simeon Soumaine (1685 - ca. 1750)

Pepper box

ca. 1730

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

Silver

Overall: 3 × 2 1/4 × 3 3/8 in. (7.6 × 5.7 × 8.6 cm)

Purchase, Abbott-Lenox Fund

1976.32ab

Silversmith Simeon Soumain is known to have been a slave owner. In 1741, when the "Great Negro Plot" threatened in New York City, Soumain's slave Tom told authorities that the conspirators asked him to get swords from his master's shop. Two years later, Soumain advertised that a pepper box much like this had been stolen.

DescriptionSeamed silver pepper box; cylindrical body seamed to the right of the handle and around the flat, set-in base; applied, molded baseband; applied, plain s-scroll handle; domed, circular lid with bezel and geometric and trefoil pierce work; engraved, "S / I * I" and "M * T" in block letters on the base; maker's mark stamped below the rim to the left of the handle.

MarkingsEngraved on the base: "S / I * I" above "M * T" both in block letters; stamped below the rim, left of the handle: "SS" in roman letters in a rectangle

ClassificationsSILVER

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