An American Silver Cream Jug, Elias Pelletreau, Southampton, New York, Circa 1790

Collection of James H. Halpin, sold

Christie's, New York, January 22, 1993, lot 120

Long Island Museum, Stony Brook, New York, 2018

Failey et al., 2018, no. 127, p. 120 and p. 129, fig. 4-19

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. 110, p. 216-217

The monogram is possibly that of David Pierson (1742-1819) and his wife Elizabeth Gelston (c.1746-1792) of Suffolk County, New York, married in 1764.

The double-bellied form and rococo multiple-scroll handle would first suggest a date in the 1760s; the handle model probably originated in Europe then crossed to New York where several silversmiths including Myer Myers employed it. The slightly elongated form and punch-beaded rim move this production into at least the late 1770s and 1780s, but other documented examples confirm Elias Pelletreau was still making this form into the 1790s. This speaks to both to the style when Pelletreau was first trained, and to the conservative tastes of his Long Island farming clientele after the upheaval of the American Revolution.

Another cream jug of this model descended in the family of David and Elizabeth Pierson and was sold with other family Pelletreau pieces at Sotheby's, New York, 17-18 January 2002, lot 466. This is presumably the creamer described under Pierson's name in Pelletreau's account book on June 8, 1791 as "cream pot wt 5-11-12." While the present cream jug bears the same monogram ('P' over 'DE'), it has no provenance to connect it to the Pierson family.

Other cream jugs by Pelletreau of this shape include one at the Yale University Art Gallery (Buhler/Hood 1970, no. 671, p. 110) and another sold from the collection of Roy and Ruth Nutt, Sotheby's New York, 24 January 2015, lot 594.