Farmington Church's Old Silver Cup Now In A Colonial Museum

WILLIAMSBURG, VA./FARMINGTON, CT — A rare piece of antique, hand-crafted silver that belonged to a Farmington church has now been acquired by a prominent historical foundation in Virginia.

A 17th-century caudle cup that belonged to the Puritan congregation of the First Church of Christ in Farmington, and was used there as a vessel for sacramental wine, was recently acquired by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the foundation reported Monday.

This new acquisition makes it the earliest piece of American silver in its collection.

The cup, wrought around 1670 in Boston, was fashioned by the first silversmiths making goods in what is now the United States.

“Colonial Williamsburg’s curators have worked diligently and with notable successes over the last decade to assemble a collection of American-made silver worthy of the institution’s other decorative arts holdings,” said Ronald L. Hurst, senior vice president for education and historic resources.

“The acquisition of this particularly early and well-preserved cup provides us with an excellent starting point for the story of American silversmithing over the next century and half.”

Although perfectly shaped to serve caudle —a hot, sweet, often alcoholic porridge — this so-called “caudle cup” was used as part of the church’s ecclesiastical service.

“Considering the rarity and significance of Hull & Sanderson’s work, I’d long wanted to see an example of their hollowware come to Colonial Williamsburg, but wasn’t sure it would be possible,” said Erik Goldstein, the foundation’s senior curator of mechanical arts and numismatics and interim curator of metals.

Colonial Williamsburg operates the world’s largest American history museum, preserving Virginia’s 18th-century capital as a fully functioning city.

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For the full announcement, click on this link.