American Silver Bowl

Object Details

Object Essay

This bowl was made for the prominent Boston merchant Moses Michael Hays (1738–1808). Hays was born in New York, the son of Judah and Rebecca Hays. He began his mercantile career in New York, but by 1769 he had removed to Newport, where he had already established a considerable business. A leader among New York’s Freemasons, he served as grand master of King David’s Lodge and took its charter with him when he moved to Newport, reestablishing the lodge there in 1769. As deputy inspector general of the Rite of Perfection for the West Indies and North America for the Ancient and Modern Order of Masons, he traveled to Philadelphia and Jamaica during the early 1770s. By 1776 he had established business connections in Boston and apparently had moved his family to the city, although he maintained extensive ties to Newport until 1782. In that year, he became a member of the Boston Lodge and, in 1788, was elected grand master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, an office he held until 1792.^{1_{Ehrenfried, 213–40.}} Paul Revere, the maker of the bowl, put his support behind the Grand Lodge in 1782 and served as deputy grand master, first under Joseph Warren (1784–85) and then under Moses Michael Hays (1790–92). During this time, Hays and Revere also became business associates (along with others) in the formation of the Massachusetts Mutual Fire Insurance Company.^{2_{Steblecki in Paul Revere: Artisan, 130–32; Ehrenfried, 223.}}

This bowl may have been made as a presentation to Hays, perhaps in appreciation for his service to the Masonic order. Revere’s daybooks, which survive for the period 1761–97, include few orders for bowls of this type. Its form resembles the famous Sons of Liberty punch bowl made by Revere in 1768, but it is closer in size to a standard slop bowl.^{3_{See Buhler 1972, 2: 408–9, 425.}} Solder lines on the underside of the bowl suggest that the base rim has been reattached.

Barbara McLean Ward

Excerpted from Jonathan L. Fairbanks. Becoming a Nation: Americana from the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, U.S. Department of State. New York: Rizzoli, 2003.