Presentation Candelabrum for Commodore Stephen Decatur

1817

Andrew Ellicott Warner

Silversmith, American, 1786 - 1870

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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned for Stephen Decatur, Jr. [1779-1820], Washington, D.C.;[1] his widow, Susan Wheeler Decatur [1776-1860], Washington, D.C.; sold, possibly in the 1830s or 1840 to William Swaim [1781-1846], Philadelphia;[2] gift to his wife, Elizabeth Wilson Swaim [1792-1866], Philadelphia; gift c. 1847 to her daughter, Eliza Swaim Hopkinson [1826-1911, Mrs. Oliver Hopkinson], Philadelphia; by descent in the Hopkinson family; gift 2018 to NGA.
[1] The candelabrum was commissioned by a committee of Baltimore citizens as part of a twelve-piece "rich and tasteful service of plate" for presentation to Decatur, a naval hero of the War of 1812. See the notice announcing the completion of the service in Niles' Register of 13 September 1817, and the exchange of letters between the Baltimore committee and Decatur printed in the same publication, on 18 October 1817; copies in NGA curatorial files. See also Joan Sayers Brown, "Silver and Gold Owned by Stephen Decatur Jr.," Antiques 123, no. 2 (February 1983): 400.
[2] After Decatur's death in a duel, his widow suffered financially and began to sell her belongings. In May 1840 she sold several pieces from the silver service at auction in New York, and it is possible Swaim purchased the candelabrum at this sale, or earlier. See Brown 1983, 400.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1817

  • [Exhibition prior to presentation to Decatur], Mr. F. Lucas, Baltimore, 1817.[1]

1917

  • Exhibition of Old American and English Silver, Pennsylvania Museum at Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, 1917, no. 202, repro.

1993

  • Classical Taste in America, 1800-1840, Baltimore Museum of Art; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1993-1994, no. 197, repro.

Bibliography

1980

  • Cooper, Wendy A. In Praise of America. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1980: 100-101 fig. 132, 107 (not in the exhibition).

1983

  • Brown, Joan Sayers. "Silver and Gold Owned by Stephen Decatur Jr." Antiques 123, no. 2 (February 1983): 400, 402 fig. 7.

1987

  • Warren, David B., Katherine S. Howe, and Michael K. Brown. Marks of Achievement: Four Centuries of American Presentation Silver. Exh. cat. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 1987: 109-110, 190 nn. 99, 100 (not in the exhibition).

Inscriptions

stamped on the underside, in a rectangle, first "W" in superscript: ANDW .E. WARNER; stamped after the rectangle, "T" in superscript: BALT; stamped after the city abbreviation, three pseudo hallmarks; engraved on top of the pedestal: The citizens of Baltimore to Commodore Stephen Decatur / Rebus gestis insigni: Ob virtutes dilecto [Renowned for his valor, beloved for his virtues]; engraved on underside of the pedestal: Presented by / William Swaim, / To / Mrs. E. Swaim, / And by her, to her daughter, / Mrs. Oliver Hopkinson

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