Sterling silver presentation tazza starr & marcus, new york, ny, dated, "1867"

The circular dish with beaded rim and engraved foliate wreath enclosing the monogram, "MSP," mounted on a central tapering column issuing three scrolling supports topped with rosettes and continuing to the shaped base, the column termininating in a suspended tri-faced sphere with three circular medallions, two filled with NeoClassical profile portraits and the third with engraved monogram, the base with inscribed dedication: "Maggie S. Pearsall from the President and Directors of the National Butchers & Drovers Bank Dec. 14, 1867."

H: 8 3/4 in. Diam: 10 in. Weight: 26 1/4 troy oz.

Margaret S. Pearsall was the daughter of Denton Pearsall (1811-1879) and Elizabeth Underhill (c.1819-1889). In 1864, Denton Pearsall, a wealthy banker and stock/land owner, was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Butchers' and Drovers' Bank and served as its president from 1876 until his death. Pearsall is included in America's Successful Men of Affairs: The City of New York, An Encyclopedia of Contemporaneous Biography, ed. Henry Hall. The New York Tribune: 1895, Volume 1, pg. 497. This tazza may have been presented to Ms. Pearsall upon her marriage to William M. Humphrey.

Provenance: Descended in the family to the present owner.

From the Collection of Harold G. Spink (1924-1992), East Brookfield, Massachusetts.