A RARE AMERICAN SILVER LARGE SUGAR BOX AND MATCHING TEA CADDY, SIMEON SOUMAINE, NEW YORK, CIRCA 1720

each engraved on one side with the Bayard coat of arms within a cartouche of scrolled strapwork and acanthus surmounted by the Bayard crest, bases later engraved with block initials M+V+D, the sugar box fitted with a flat sliding cover centering a domed cylindrical finial.

Bayard family, probably Judith Bayard and Rip Van Dam, Jr.
Margaret Van Dam (b. 1720)
Property of a New England Collector, sold
Christie's New York, January 20, 1989, lots 300-301
Eddy Nicholson (1938-2011)
Jonathan Trace, October 1994

SAM American Sampler, 2002-2005

Silver Studies 2004, illus.

engravings refreshed, sugar box with base pushed up slightly and with small dents, overall 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.

The matching tea caddy to complete this caddy and sugar box set is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art (64.249.5a,b).  All three are engraved underneath M+V+D for Margaret Van Dam, daughter of Judith Bayard and Rip Van Dam, Jr., suggesting that they were the original owners of the suite.  Further, the same arms are engraved on a two-handled covered cup made by Gerrit Onckelbag that was owned by Judith Bayard.  Judith Bayard (1696-before 1745) was the daughter of Samuel Bayard and Margarita Van Cortlandt.  She married September 18, 1719, Rip Van Dam, Jr., son of Rip Van Dam, Sr. and Sara Van Der Spiegel.  They had two children, Nicholas and Margaret. 

Octagonal tea canisters with a removable domed cap for measuring dry tea leaves were a form used by early-eighteenth century English silversmiths that were copied by several colonial American silversmiths. While surviving examples are rare, it is even less common to have extant pairs, such as the two by Thauvet Besley, circa 1740, in the collection of the Museum of the City of New York, or the pair by Joseph Richardson Sr., circa 1740, for Oswald and Lydia Peel of Philadelphia. In England, tea caddies were frequently made en suite with a sugar bowl. The two tea caddies and sugar box by Soumaine are the only known extant colonial American example of these sets.