Samuel Soumaien
Cann
c. 1755
Physical Qualities
Silver, 4 3/4 × 4 × 5 1/8 in. (12.1 × 10.2 × 13 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Virginia P.B. White, Baltimore
Object Number
1933.54.23
Possibly related to the well-known New York silversmith Simeon Soumaien, Samuel Soumaien was the descendant of a French Huguenot family that immigrated to London about 1680 and then to New York before 1689. Samuel was working in Annapolis sometime before 1741, providing services not only as a silversmith, but also as an auctioneer and a seller of hops, Madeira, and rum. He moved to Philadelphia in 1753 or 1754, but used the same maker’s mark there as he had in Annapolis.
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1933; Virginia Purviance Bonsal White (1869-1955), Baltimore, MD by purchase, February 12, 1929; Mary Frances Sill (1866-1947), 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. 32, ill.
Markings: Stamped on underside: "E*Y", "SS" in box Etched into underside: "VW 223" "I"
