Two-handled bowls chased into six equal panels are a form specific to early New York silver and represent a blending of Dutch and English fashions. Dutch bowls of this type are usually divided into eight lobes, while contemporary English bowls display the C-curve handles and short stepped foot favored by New York makers. The beautifully engraved feather mantling on this bowl surround the initials “S” over “TA”, which according family tradition belonged to a member of the van Schaick family. Catherine van Schaick (ca. 1670–1702) married Matthew Clarkson (ca. 1664–1702) in 1692, and the bowl descended in the family to Emilie Vallete Clarkson (1863–1946), who married William A. Moore (1861–1922) in 1901. In 1923 the Moores presented their extensive family collection, largely of decorative arts, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Credit: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Moore, 1923