A Rare American Silver Square Waiter, Peter Quintard, New York, Circa 1730

By descent to William Few Chrystie (1823-1902);

Robert Ensko (1855-1934);

Christie's, January 23, 1988, lot 92;

Mr. and Mrs. Eddy G. Nicholson;

Christie's, New York, January 27, 1995, lot 617.

Jeanne Sloane, Artistry and Enterprise: American Silver 1660-1790 - Survey of American Colonial silver held in the collection of Roy J. Zuckerberg, New York, Smallwood & Stewart, 2018, no. 67, p. 142-143

The monogram is possibly that of the Chrystie family of Westchester County, New York.

Peter Quintard apprenticed with Charles Le Roux. A tankard bearing marks of both Le Roux and Quintard testifies to the close relationship of these makers (Sotheby's, 29 October 2004, lot 734).

Quintard modeled this waiter on an identical example dated c. 1710-30 made by Le Roux for Philip Ver Planck (1695-1771), now in the Art Institute of Chicago (1960.782). Another Le Roux square waiter, dated 1725-35 but with upcurved sides and no indentations at the corners, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1997.498.2). All three waiters have bracket feet that conform to the shaped corners of the border. Quintard's own apprentice Peter David made a square silver waiter, probably once he was established in Philadelphia in the mid-1730s (see the William K. DuPont collection, Sotheby's New York,

23 January 2022, lot 231).

Square waiters were popular in England in this period. Paul de Lamerie used a form very similar to the offered lot, with prominently incurved corners; see examples of 1725 (sold Bonham's London, 12 July 2023, lot 77) and 1733 (sold Elstob Auctioneers, Ripon UK, 13 May 2022, lot 1133). However, the form was rarely adopted in the Colonies.