A RARE AMERICAN SILVER SALVER ON FOOT, HENRY PRATT, PHILADELPHIA, CIRCA 1730

the center engraved with Maddox arms within an elaborate baroque cartouche containing leopards, birds, and a portrait mask with scrolling foliage and fishscale, surmounted by the Maddox crest, and above later script monogram EBW, the reverse engraved with block initials M/IM and later with monogram L.C.B.

Joshua Maddox (1687-1759) of Philadelphia, married 1725 Mary Gateaux, to their daughter
Mary Maddox Wallace (1732-1784), Somerset County, New Jersey, to her son
Joshua Maddox Wallace, Jr. (1752-1819), to his son
Joshua Maddox Wallace, M.D. (1815-1851), thence by descent to
Mrs. Arthur K. Peck, Sr.
Mrs. Lee Wallace Peck, sold
Christie's New York, January 16, 1998, for the then record price for American silver at auction

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Silver, April 14 to May 27, 1956
Worldly Goods 1999 no. 235.
SAM American Sampler 2002-2005

"Philadelphia Silver, 1682-1800," The Philadelphia Museum Bulletin, vol. LI, no. 249, Spring 1956, illus. 317

rim with one repaired split and one small patch, some minor dents to foot and foot rim, otherwise good
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.

Joshua Maddox was a Provincial Judge from 1741 to 1759 and was a founding trustee of the University of Pennsylvania.  His estate inventory lists 200 ounces of silver, exceptional for the period.  Three other Maddox pieces survive, all with this same coat of arms: a tankard by Philip Syng and a caster by Simeon Soumaine, both at Yale, and a cann by Philip Syng shown at the Philadelphia Museum in 1956 (cat. no. 500).  Two porringers by Johannis Nys engraved with the monogram of Mary Gateaux are known, presumably part of her wedding silver, one at Yale, the other no. 294 in the 1956 exhibition.

Henry Pratt worked for only eight years; he is represented in the Philadelphia Museum only by a spoon.