Teapot
Samuel Casey, American, about 1724 - 1780
Little Rest, Rhode Island
about 1755
Silver
Overall: 6 3/8 in. (16.2 cm)
Base: 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Louise C. Harrington in honor of Frank L. Harrington, Class of 1924
M.989.30
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
1600-1800
Object Name
Tools and Equipment: Food Service
Research Area
Decorative Arts
Not on view
Inscriptions
Marked on base: S:CASEY [in rectangle]; engraved on inside rim of base, in script: Phillips
Label
Samuel Casey was the most prominent silversmith of his day in Little Rest, Rhode Island, known as Kingston since 1825. This teapot is of the inverted pear form that epitomizes the mid-18th-century preference for curvaceous top-heavy or asymmetrical designs and naturalistic ornamentation in the Rococo manner.
Despite his apparent success in attracting patrons, Casey eventually yielded to what was likely a temptation for many silversmiths—counterfeiting silver coinage. After he was arrested for this practice in 1770 and sentenced to death, a band of supporters broke into the jail and freed Casey, who swiftly fled the colony.
From the 2019 exhibition American Art, Colonial to Modern, curated by Barbara J. MacAdam, Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art
Exhibition History
American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, William B. Jaffe and Evelyn A. Jaffe Hall Galleries, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 9-December 9, 2007.
American Art, Colonial to Modern, Israel Sack Gallery and Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019-September 12, 2021.
From Titian to Sargent: Dartmouth Alumni and Friends Collect, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 12-November 1, 1987.
Harrington Silver Case, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, August 12, 2009-August 2011.
Harrington Silver Case, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 25, 1997-November 6, 2006.
The Rococo Style in New England Silver, Harrington Silver Case, Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 13, 2012.
Publication History
Barbara J. MacAdam and Hilliard T. Goldfarb, From Titian to Sargent: Dartmouth Alumni and Friends Collect, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 1987.
Barbara J. MacAdam, American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Muesum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2007, p. 190, no. 159.
Provenance
Frank Leighton Harrington, Sr. (1902-1988), Worcester, Massachusetts; bequeathed to Louise Cronin Harrington (1904-2000), Worcester, Massachusetts, 1989.
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