An American Silver Salver, David Hall, the engraving attributed to James Smither, Philadelphia, dated 1773

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. 132, p. 260-261

The monogram is probably for Elizabeth Warner (c. 1755- 1823), who married Benjamin Shoemaker (1746-1808) in Philadelphia on May 18, 1773; the inscription on the back documents that the piece was a wedding gift from her mother, Ann (Coleman) Warner (her father had died in 1754). Jeanne Sloane notes that "in her widowhood, Ann Warner, a wealthy Quaker, took in lodgers from her social circle when they were orphaned or in need of shelter."

This salver is very similar to the Emlen salver by Richard Humphreys, see comparable image, sold Sotheby's, New York, 22 January 2016, lot 1294. Humphreys and David Hall were associates, and the engraving on these pieces and on Humphreys' 1774 tea urn for the Continental Congress (Philadelphia Museum of Art) is attributed to James Smither, who signed the cartouche on the tea urn. Trained in London, Smither was advertising in Philadelphia by 1768 "all Manner of Engraving in Gold, Silver, Copper, Steel, and all other Metals - -Coat of Arms, and Seals, done in the neatest Manner" (Sloane, quoted from Prime 1929, p. 28).

The pieces engraved by Smither in the early 1770s show the sophistication of Philadelphia rococo - as produced by London artists - on the eve of the Revolution. When war broke out, Smither used his engraving skills to counterfeit Philadelphia paper currency for the British, leading to his fleeing with them to New York and in 1778 he was charged with treason (though later pardoned after the war; Fales 1974, p. 306). David Hall had already died, as his estate was inventoried in January of 1776 ( see Aldfer Auction, Hatfield, PA, 9 December 1999, lot 317).