The Deacon John Jacobs beakers: A pair of American silver beakers, Jacob Hurd, Boston, dated 1728

slightly flared cylindrical with molded base bands, engraved with baroque scalework cartouche enclosing presentation inscription, marked above cartouche Hurd in oval (Kane mark C)

The Church of Christ in Cohasset, formerly the Second Church of Christ in Hingham, 1728 to the present.

Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1911. American Church Silver of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, with a few pieces of Domestic Plate, nos. 633 to 636, p. 75, and plate 20.

Patricia E. Kane, Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers, New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 1998, p. 585.

Hollis French, Jacob Hurd and his sons Nathaniel & Benjamin, Silversmiths, Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, 1939, nos. 12-15, p. 31.

E. Alfred Jones, The Old Silver of American Churches, Letchworth, England: National Society of Colonial Dames of American, 1913, p. 130-131, pl. XLIX.

very good condition: engraving crisp, mark clear, and nice color
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Deacon John Jacobs (Jr.) was the grandson of Nicholas Jacobs, one of the earliest settlers in Hingham.  His father, John Jacobs Sr., was one of the leaders in Hingham's dispute with Scituate over the area which would become Cohasset.  The first John Jacobs Jr. was shot, aged 22, by an Indian in 1676, during King Philips' War, and the name was reused for the future deacon, born three years later in 1679.

In 1710-11 John Jacobs Jr. married Sarah, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Cushing of Hingham. At this time, tax records list him with one house, six acres of meadow, two acres of farm, twenty acres of pasture, two horses, six oxen, three cows and ten sheep; only one neighbor was listed with significantly more acreage.  Jacobs was active in the campaign which, in 1717, allowed the district to set up its own meetinghouse as the Second parish in Hingham.  In 1724 his niece married the new minister, Nehemiah Hobart.  From 1726 to 1733 John Jacobs was the member for Hingham in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

These four beakers, commissioned by Jacobs from Jacob Hurd in 1728, are among the earliest surviving pieces by the silversmith who made more than 50% of the surviving Boston silver of his generation (Kane p. 578).  Hurd was married in 1725, and that same year Samuel Sewall bought a spoon from his Pudding Lane shop, dignifying the silversmith as "Mr Hurd."  He was elected tithingman in 1727 and clerk of the market 1727/28.  Of the over 500 entries listed by Patriica Kane under Jacob Hurd, only about 30 are dated to the 1720s or circa 1730.  Hurd was obviously running a proficient shop during this period, as shown by these beakers, the pair of alms dishes he made for the Church in Marblehead (1727-28), and the tankard given to the Church in Lynn (1728).  However, these beakers belong to the very earliest group of dated pieces from his workshop.