The John Gengen Beaker: A rare American silver beaker, William Rouse, Boston, 1686-87

tall lightly flared cylindrical, engraved John Gengen in semi-script on one side; more recent script on opposite side reads The Gift of John Gengen to the Church in Dorchester 1685

Legacy of John Gengen in 1686 to
The First Parish in Dorchester, Dorchester, MA

Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1911. American Church Silver of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, with a few pieces of Domestic Plate.
Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, loan, 1938-2011

E. Alfred Jones, The Old Silver of American Churches, 1913, p. 144-45, no. 928, p. 111.
Patrica E. Kane, Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers, 1998, p. 866.

good condition, with nice mark, skin, and gauge
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.

The legacy for the present lot was bequeathed to the church in the will of John Gengen, dated 24 March, 1686-87. Gengen whose surname has fourteen different spellings, was thought to have lived in Salem and Taunton as well as Dorchester, where he was entered as a freeman in 1646. In addition to leaving £5 to the Church in Dorchester, he also gifted £5 to Mr. Lawson, the minister of the church in Salem.
Only ten pieces of silver have been attributed to William Rouse (1640-1704/5) and are listed in Patricia E. Kane's Colonial Massachusetts Silversmiths and Jewelers, 1998, p. 866. This beaker represents one of two beakers listed. Other pieces attributed to Rouse include three wine cups, a patch box, a skillet, two sucket forks, and a tankard.
Rouse is thought to have been born in 1640 in a town on the Rhine in the Duchy of Cleves near the United Netherlands. Likely trained as a silversmith before emigrating to the American Colonies, Rouse was in Boston as early as the late 1660s.
He and his wife Sarah (Kind) Tyer (1646-1705) lived near the meeting house in the North End where Rouse was active in various civic affairs. He was named a selectman in 1686, surveyor in 1689, overseer of chimneys in 1690 and constable in 1691. Kane also notes that he may have trained Thomas Wylls and Benjamin Coney, brother of silversmith John Coney (ibid, pp. 864-66)