Tankard

Cornelius Kierstede

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This classic New York tankard is one of several that survive marked by the outstanding colonial silversmith Cornelius Kierstede. Of particular interest is the cast element soldered to the handle, which represents a female mask with pendant fruit. This motif appears on tankards marked by a variety of silversmiths, for instance Simeon Soumaine, whose tankard (27.85.1) descended in the same family as did this one.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art