Collection Highlight

Tankard, c. 1751
Samuel Minott (1732-1803)
Boston, Massachusetts
Sterling silver
Gift of Jim Thompson, 80.6

This is a particularly fine sterling silver tankard crafted by noted Boston silversmith Samuel Minott. Its domed lid and spiral flame finial are hallmarks of Boston tankard design of the period. Minott made this tankard for Judge Ichabod Rollins of Somersworth, New Hampshire, which is now named Rollinsford in honor of his family. The tankard is inscribed with Judge Rollins’s initials, IRA, on its handle. Judge Rollins represented Somersworth in the Provincial legislature at the beginning of the Revolution and up to 1776, was the first Judge of Probate from 1776 to 1784, and was Councillor from 1784 to 1789. He was involved in building some grist mills and fulling mills in the area. Whether used for consuming alcoholic beverages or simply as an art object for display in his home, the tankard would have been a fitting symbol of Judge Rollins’s status as one of New Hampshire’s leading citizens.

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