Hester Bateman
Cruet Stand
1783-1789
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Hester Bateman
Cruet Stand
1783-1789
Physical Qualities
Silver, mahogany, Overall: 8 7/8 × 8 × 5 in. (22.5 × 20.3 × 12.7 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Elizabeth F. Cheney, Oak Park, Illinois
Object Number
1981.103.1
This piece of silver has the maker mark of Hester Bateman, a widowed silversmith. While married, women silversmiths worked alongside their husbands, both in the business of supporting a family workshop and in the process of making. After their husbands’ deaths, widows were able to register their own marks. Casters, used for spices, and cruet stands, used for oils, were found at every meal.
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1981; Elizabeth F. Cheney, Oak Park, IL
