Tankard 1762 - 1775

This tankard was made by Samuel Tingley, a silversmith active in colonial Boston before his death in 1796. Silver objects like this one weren’t just functional, they were potent symbols of wealth and status in a society deeply stratified by class. Imagine the hands that would have grasped this handle. It evokes a sense of intimacy and historical connection: the wealthy families who commissioned these objects, displaying their affluence and taste. But it also brings up a complicated history. This tankard would have been purchased using wealth derived from global trade, including the trade of enslaved people and natural resources extracted from colonized lands. The gleam of the silver belies a complex network of power, labor, and inequality. It is a reminder that even the most beautiful objects can be entangled in histories of exploitation and oppression.