The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-04-29
UniqueLoan Exhibit Opcn-
ed in Philadelphia.
IDEA OF PATRIOTIC SOCIETY
Rare Examples of the Valuable Table
Services Of Revolutionary Times-Ex-
planatien Of Various Types by a Stud
ent Of the Subject.


rare and unique designs and pieces. was
inaugurated at the Academy OF Fine Arts
last night by a private view to the mem
bers OF the Society of Colonial Danes.
officers Of this organization planned the
exhibit. which VIII be open today and to-
morrow to the general public
The success of the idea has far sur
passed the expectations of the committee,
which had been promised about so pieces,
but found, when all had been received,
more than 1,000 pieces. Almost al of
these have history. more OF less well
knCWH- As a help 10 those who may have
old siIverwarc whose history they may
not kRow definitely, OF concerning which
they may wish to Know more, the commit
tee had arranged for q talk on the sub
ject BY aliss BisseH. of Wilmington VINO
has made study CT this fascinating topic,
and who may be better known to some
BY her pen name OF Priscilla Leonard "
Miss BisseH began By giving : brief ex-
PLANTATION Of WY there Is so much old
china and so little eId silver. One rea-
son is that the silver is changeabIe in
form, while china IS always china. While
the latter has been sac-edIy preserved.
from The earliest times. there IS practi-
cally no silver plate more than a very
few centuries old. Every war in England
meant so much plate melted up for money,
particularly Of family plate, so that the
best and eldest examples extant are those
preserved in the churches
Many Coed Colonial Silversmiths.
When it Genes to plate of the eight
eentb century, nearly everybody stands
some chance, as there were many good
silveTsniths in the Colonial times in
Boston, New York, and Philadelphia
After going with considerable detail
into the question OF the hall marks EN-
.plUyed by the English and Continental
silyeTsmiths TO Indicate the date and fine
ness OF their wares. Miss BisseII said that
there are many fine American pieces bear
ing no marks except the Individual marks
Of the makers. so that it is difficult to
determine their date. She then took up
a number Of {. pieaI pieces from the loan
exhibition, showing first a beautiful ex-
ample OF the work Of Paul Revere, a cream
pitcher OF chaste design. loaned by Miss
Christine NewhaH Clarke.
a number of spoons were shown to in
dictate the changes in shape that took
place with progress Of time, teaspoons not
having been much used before the middle
Of the eighteenth century. Examples of
the apostle and the rat-taIl spoons were
among those shown.
Taukards are among the earliest forms
Of American plate Singular as II may
appear. they were first made TO hold
water, but later were utilized as contain
eFs OF beer. and are not found in non-beer
drinking countries The palmer and
straiEhteT the sides the older the piece
One Of the most interesting from his
toTical point Of view Of the pieces men
toned and shown by Miss Bisseli IN her
talk was a silver porTingeT, owned By
William Penn, now the property Of Mr.
and Mrs. William TTimbIe OF this city.
il is Of the fat form that the English
would call pOsset cup As contrast,
Miss Bissel held up a beautiful example
of the English porringer, made in 1915,
ard having two handles, much like the
loving cup Of today.
Typical Of another form CT ware, OF
which there are several good examples in
the exhibition, was shown a punch ladle
OF the eighteenth century, having q deep
cup in the bottom Of which is set, IN
Characteristic fashion, a coin OF the reign
in which it was made The handles Of
these ladies' are OF twisted whalebone-
A Beautiful Piece of Work.
The early tcapots were very plain in
design until after 1850, when they were
given more ornamentation, even If not
more beautiful forms. Miss BisseH quoted
tEo words Of a c0nnoisseur, who said that
nothing good has been done in silverwaTe
since 1874, except IN the reproduction Of
cid patterns. An exquisite example OF the
teapot Of that period was shown, largely
confirming the connoisseur's doctrine It
has an ebony handle. and was the work
Of Dubois, a weIl-known Philadelphia
siIgersmith. who made the communion
service for old Christ Church It is owned
81 Mrs. Arthur H. Lea, and was the
property of Col Joseph Cowperthwait,
who commanded the Fighting Quakers"
during the Revolution, and was sheriff
. Philadelphia from 17S5 to I78S.
Another piece of great historical inter
est, as well as OF considerable beauty,
vas a silver cup, with cover, presented
e Benjamin Franklin by Dr. John Foth-
ergiII. II is oTnamented with chain Of
friendship. It is the valued possession
Of Mrs. Gummere.
One of the last pieces shown by Miss
-::sseH was very old and very much
elongated spoon. used for excavating the
sweet contents Of marrow bones.
Il would require columns Of space TO go
into the history and the beauties of many
Of tie pieces to he seen in the exhibition
Holding foremost place among the ware
valuable for its historical associations
are the pieces belonging to the commun-
ion sets Of old St Mary's Episcopal
Church. Burlington. \. J.. AMI oxford
Church. at Fox Chase. presented by
Queen Anne IN the very early years Of the
eighteenth century
Richard Stockton, Of New Jersey, one
Of the signers of the Declaration Of In
dependence. is recalled by several pieces
from his collection OF siITeTware, exhibit
co by his heirs. During the British occu-
pations he buried his plate on his place,
"AOTven,' at Princeton One box was
discovered and captured, but the rest was
saved Another historical character re
called in the same manner is Andrew
Hunter, an original member of the So
eiety Of the Cincinnati, and chaplain %
the New Jersey brigade, some OF whose
ware hEs descended to the exhibitors, tho
Misses Hunter.
"Mad Anthony's" Tableware.
A very elegantly shaped cream pitcher
and sugar bowl that were owned by Mad
Anthony Wayne are shown by Mr.. and
Mrs William Shipley Taylor, Of Over
BROCK.
Mr. 6 Davis Page has leaned little
square silver inkstand that belonged 20
Thomas Jefferson. and was presumably
presented by him to Mr. Pages great
u -