Tankard owned by Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1766–1824)

ca. 1765

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

Silver

Overall: 8 1/2 × 9 1/4 × 5 1/8 in., 42 oz (troy) 13.3 dwt (21.6 × 23.5 × 13 cm, 1327 g)
Part (lip): 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm)
Part (base): 5 in. (12.7 cm)

Gift of Mrs. Alexander H. Whitman and Mr. Robert B. Choate, Jr.

1965.45

This baluster-form tankard is engraved with the initials of Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1766-1824), a prominent Albany banker and two-term mayor of that city. Van Rensselaer probably inherited this tankard, likely made around the time he was born, from his father, Stephen Van Rensselaer II (1742-1769), the eighth patroon of Rensselaerswyck. The tankard is adorned with an animated Rococo cartouche, framed by an asymmetrical assemblage of scrolls, waves, and foliage, which probably once enclosed the family coat of arms. As on other Van Rensselaer family silver, the cartouche is surmounted by the family's crest of an iron basket issuing flames. The Neoclassical-style floral script initials, "PSVR", appear on other surviving silver that once belonged to Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer, and were probably engraved around the time of his marriage in 1787.

DescriptionWrought silver tankard; baluster-shaped body with a molded, flared lip on a molded, circular foot; stepped, domed cover with a serrated flange at the front; split, double-scrolled thumbpiece and molded hinge-plate with a broad molded drop and a small bead drop; double-scroll handle with a forked scroll terminal; foliate scroll cartouche surmounted by a basket issuing flames; cartouche engraved, "P S V R" in bright-cut script; maker's marks stamped on the base.

MarkingsInscriptions (Engraved): Asymmetrical rococo cartouche surrounded by vines, foliage, floral elements, crest composed of skein holding Van Rensselaer crest of flaming basket, all engraved on center-front of body. Engraved script initials "PSVR" located in upper half of cartouche. Possible traces of engraved initials on handle below drop. Maker's marks: "ST" and N York" in script with surrounds stamped in relief on bottom below and above center punch.

ProvenancePossible descent: Stephen Van Rensselaer II (1742-1769), who married Catherine Livingston (1745-1810); to their son Philip Schuyler Van Rensselaer (1766-1824), who married Anne de Peyster Van Cortlandt (1766-1855); descended through family to Katherine Schuyler Crosby (1901-1956), great-great-granddaughter of Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764-1839), who married (2nd) Hon. Raymond Sanger Wilkins (1891-1971); to their children Sylvia Choate (Mrs. Alexander Harvey Whitman; 1923-2008) and her brother Robert Burnett Choate (1924-2009), the donors.

ClassificationsSILVER