A two-handled cup decorated with cherubs and flowers.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A vessel with etched flowers and a cherub wearing a flower skirt on the bottom half. The upper half is etched with a shield which features an upward pointing chevron with three upturned crescents. Below the shield there is a banner which states “DUCE NATURA SEQUOR”. Above the shield there is a hand holding a up a branch in its fist. The handles are curling and delicate, lined with bumps and a small persons head attached to the top of each handle, with an elaborate hairstyle made of multiple round shapes like those which line the handles.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
878.1927
People
John Coney, American (Boston, MA 1655/56 - 1722 Boston, MA)
Title
"The Holyoke Caudle Cup"
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
c. 1690
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States, Massachusetts, Boston
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/232538

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2340, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Silver Cabinet: Art and Ritual, 1600–1850
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Silver
Dimensions
13 x 23.5 x 14.3 cm (5 1/8 x 9 1/4 x 5 5/8 in.)
6548.62 g
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: Inscription: Duce Natura Sequor; later inscription of Holyoke arms
    floral motifs and figures used in decoration.

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Reverend Edward Holyoke, President of Harvard College 1737-1769 (1689-1769); Charlotte A. Hedge (Great-great-granddaughter of President Edward Holyoke); her gift to Harvard College, 1903.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Loan from Harvard University; Gift of Miss Charlotte Hedge, 1903
Object Number
878.1927
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary
The following eight vessels constitute Harvard's ceremonial silver. They are taken out of Harvard Art Museum storage and displayed only for the most important occasions, most notably for presidential inaugurations. Information about their history and display are in the files of the University Portrait Collection:

"The John Vassal Tankard", by Joseph Kneeland, American, 873.1927
"The William Vassal Tankard" by Joseph Kneeland, 874.1927
"The Dunster Tankard" by Ephraim Cobb, American, 876.1927
"The Stoughton Cup" by John Coney, American, 877.1927.A-B
"The Holyoke Caudle Cup" by John Coney, 878.1927
"The Hedge Tankard" by Edward Winslow, American, 879.1927
"The Great Salt", unidentified British maker, 881.1927
"The Browne Cup," by John Burt, American, 882.1927.A-B

Publication History

  • Highlights from the Collections of the Fogg Museum and Harvard Alumni of St. Louis, exh. cat., City Art Museum of St. Louis (St. Louis, 1964), cat. 2
  • Kenyon Castle Bolton, III, Peter G. Huenink, Earl A. Powell III, Harry Z. Rand, and Nanette C. Sexton, American Art at Harvard, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1972), cat. 172, ill.
  • Graham Hood, American Silver: A History of Style, 1650-1900, E. P. Dutton & Co. (New York, NY, 1989), p. 28-29, fig. 7
  • Timothy Anglin Burgard, American Art at Harvard: Cultures and Contexts, brochure, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1994), p. 10, cat. 12
  • "The Table is Set: Out Comes the Ceremonial Silver to Celebrate a President", Harvard Magazine (November 2001), p. 112, ill.
  • Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. and Melissa Renn, American Paintings at Harvard, Volume One: Paintings, Watercolors, and Pastels by Artists Born before 1826, Yale University Press (U.S.) and Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge and New Haven, 2014), pp. 492-93, fig. 68
  • Camran Mani and Cecilia Zhou, ed., A Collection of Perspectives: Ho Family Student Guides at the Harvard Art Museums, Harvard Art Museums (Cambridge, 2023), pp. 30-31, repr. p. 31

Exhibition History

  • American Art at Harvard, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/19/1972 - 06/18/1972
  • American Art at Harvard: Cultures and Contexts, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/01/1994 - 12/30/1994
  • The Persistence of Memory: Continuity and Change in American Cultures, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/29/1995 - 05/13/2001
  • 32Q: 2340 Cabinet Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 09/24/2019; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/25/2019 - 06/02/2025

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu