SILVER TANKARD ATTRIBUTED TO MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR THOMAS DUDLEY, EX-LATTIMER.

This silver tankard with the Dudley family crest is from the Dr. John K. Lattimer collection and comes with his typed note card with annotations that it came from Walter O’Connor at the same time he purchased a sword attributed to Governor Dudley. The style of the tankard suggests this is Massachusetts Governor Joseph Dudley, 1647-1720, who held numerous political and administrative posts, among them Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay 1702-1715. The tankard is beautifully engraved with the Dudley family coat of arms in rococo style, a lion at center, and the motto underneath: “nec gladio nec arcu,” “neither by sword nor by bow.” Lattimer’s note dates the tankard about 1750, a bit late for the Governor, and also notes the presence on the tankard’s bottom of the repeated silversmith mark “A & GW” of Alfred and George Wells, active in Boston ca. 1804-1810, which would be too late for style of the tankard, though it could indicate rebuilding of an earlier piece. Dudley’s career was tumultuous, racked by internal political conflicts as well as troubles with Indians and the French. This is an impressive piece from one of Massachusetts’ foremost families. CONDITION: Good. Paperwork: Lattimer Notes