Jacob Hurd Cream Jug, ca. 1745
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APPRAISER:
You have this amazing 18th-century American cream jug. Can you tell me where you got it?
GUEST:
It is my great-grandmother's... It was her sister's. And it's been in the family, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Your great-great-aunt. And was she from Boston?
GUEST:
No, I believe they were from Pennsylvania somewhere.
APPRAISER:
Pennsylvania. Well, I think you'd have to go back a little farther in your family tree to find the original owner of this. It's made in Boston. We know that right away because of the mark here of Jacob Hurd, one of the finest silversmiths in the second quarter of the 18th century in Boston. I couldn't believe it when you brought this in, because 99 out of 100 of these American cream jugs are very plain. There's no decoration on them at all. And when you were standing in line, I could see these amazing scenes. Here you have ducks and houses that are decorating the entire surface around this jug. In America, there are about, I would say, 15 pieces with this punched and engraved scenic decoration. It is extremely rare. We think that there was a specialist decorator working in Boston who would have made these borders and would have filled in these scenes based on engraved prints. But with craft specialization the way it was in London, there were very few decorators of silver who could make it just doing that kind of specialty work in this country. So to a collector, this rare decoration, as good as any English one, is complete excitement. And if this were English, with this typical scenic decoration, the value would be $500 only, even though it's about 1745. But because it's so rare and American, the value is going to be $30,000 to $50,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my God!
APPRAISER:
Yes, it's very rare. It's very rare indeed.
GUEST:
I truly didn't expect that.
APPRAISER:
Yes, well, I didn't expect to see it, so we're both surprised, huh?
GUEST:
It's just always been sitting up on the bookshelf.
APPRAISER:
Well, it's a wonderful thing. It's extremely rare.
GUEST:
Thank you.
APPRAISER:
Thank you.
GUEST:
Wow.
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