William Whetcroft
Cann
c. 1770
Physical Qualities
Silver, 3 7/8 × 3 × 4 5/8 in. (9.8 × 7.6 × 11.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Virginia P.B. White, Baltimore
Object Number
1933.54.59
William Whetcroft, an Irish-born craftsman, advertised services as a goldsmith, jeweler, and lapidary (cutter and setter of gems). He moved back and forth between Annapolis and Baltimore, sometimes operating in partnership with others. Whetcroft made this traditional pear-shaped cann in about 1770 but by the end of that decade he was involved in ironworks, a potentially lucrative trade in colonial Maryland. By the time Charles Willson Peale painted his portrait in 1789, the prosperous Whetcroft seems to have stopped making silver.
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1933; Virginia Purviance Bonsal White (Mrs. Miles White) (1869-1955), Baltimore, MD by purchase, April 1929; Mr. Magnin; Steuart Family of Anne Arundel County, MD
Maryland HIstorical Society, "A Gardener's Tale: The Eighteenth Century World of Annapolis Silversmith Wiliam Faris", March 25, 2005-November 26, 2005.
Goldsborough, Jennifer Faulds. "Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Maryland Silver in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1975. p. 38, ill.
Goldsborough, Jennifer Faulds. "Silver in Maryland", Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1983. p.224, ill.
Inscribed: Inscribed "Alice Steuart." in script on the outer center body
Markings: Underside: "WW" stamped "WW [or WV] / 224" scratched "1761 / EJ" scratched [very tiny]
