American Furniture, Folk & Decorative Arts

Provenance:

Found in Cotswolds, England,

Jonathan Trace, Putnam Valley, New York,

Art Institute of Chicago, purchased with funds by Mrs. Frank L. Sulzberger, 1979 (acquired directly from above).

Note:

Francis Peabody (1801-1867) of Salem, Massachusetts gifted this cup to his friend George Peabody (1795-1869) of London. Francis was foremost a businessman, founding the Forest River Lead Company. He served his country as Colonel of 1st Regiment in the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Division of the Massachusetts Militia. Francis was also a hobby architect and promoter of science and knowledge, acting as President of the Essex Institute and a member of the Americana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

George Peabody, born in Danvers, Massachusetts (now Peabody), was an American financier, starting a dry goods business in Baltimore in partnership with Elisha Riggs called Riggs, Peabody & Co. In 1837, he moved to London, eventually partnering with Junius Spencer Morgan in 1854 to found what would become J.P. Morgan & Co. Using his wealth for good, George was a noteworthy philanthropist, founding the Peabody Trust in England as well as the Peabody Institute and George Peabody Library in Baltimore.