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Lot description
WILLIAM MITCHELL, JR., RICHMOND, VIRGINIA COIN SILVER PRESENTATION MUG TO GRANDSON OF JEWISH SILVERSMITH, MYER MYERS, baluster form with foliate die-rolled rim and foot, applied scrolled handle, sides with chased and engraved acanthus leaf designs, one side with presentation engraving that reads, "From / GEORGE JONES / To "DR.. HENRY MYERS / Author of the / PRIZE ADDRESS / For the opening of the / AVON THEATRE / Norfolk VA, Octr.. 16th.. 1839." Base impressed with "W. [M]ITCHELL Jr." maker's mark in a banner cartouche for William Mitchell, Jr. of Richmond, VA (active 1818-1845). Total weight: 6.565 ozt. Circa 1839. 4 3/8" HOA, 3 7/8" H rim, 3 3/8" D rim. Literature: Hollan - Virginia Silversmiths, pp. 542-543, mark k. For the prize address by Dr. Henry Myers and read by Mrs. George Jones, see Southern literary messenger; devoted to every department of literature and the fine arts, Vol. 5, Issue 12, December 1839, p. 833. Catalogue Note: Dr. Henry Myers (1806-1845) was the son of Samuel Myers (1755-1836) and Judith Moses Hays (1767-1844). His father, Samuel, was the second son of Jewish silversmith Myer Myers (1723-1795) of New York City, NY, making him Henry's grandfather. None of Myer Myers's sons trained as silversmiths with him. Samuel went into the merchant and trade business, eventually settling in Petersburg and Richmond, VA in the early 19th century. Not much is currently known about Dr. Henry Myers. In the Richmond Whig and Commercial Journal, Vol. 6, No.18 on July 27, 1831, Dr. Myers advertised that he had "taken the rooms recently occupied by Dr. Patrick Cullen, opposite the Post Office, begs leave to offer his professional services to the public." As noted on this mug, he wrote an address that won a contest to be presented at the opening of the Avon Theatre in Norfolk, VA in 1839, which burned down in 1850. It appears that Henry never married, and he names his brothers Samuel H. and Gustavus A. Myers and his three sisters, Rebeccah, Rachel, and Elhalah as heirs to his estate. He and much of his family are buried at the Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond, VA.