Art Express with the Curator

Annapolis was a thriving colony in the mid-18th century. Though the American colonists grew to resent the British, they desired the amenities of the British lifestyle. The designs of decorative pieces that flourished during the “Golden Age” of Annapolis (1760s-1770s) were inspired by classical forms of the Greeks and Romans. Among these desirable objects was silver, a hallmark of wealth. Like the silversmiths in Europe, Annapolis silversmiths crafted objects such as creampots, canns, skewers, spoons and ladles, in classical and rococo designs. Annapolis could claim 28 silversmiths in the years between 1720 and 1850, but the evidence of their work is rare. Only 14 of these are known to have surviving work today.

Join Hammond-Harwood House Curator Lucinda Dukes Edinberg to learn about the works and lives of these silversmiths through over 80 objects on loan from the Baltimore Museum of Art, Winterthur Museum, Gardens and Library, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Carlyle House, Historic Annapolis and private collectors. This is the first time an exhibition of Annapolis silver has been shown in Annapolis.

This lecture is offered free of charge. Please consider making a donation to support Hammond-Harwood House or becoming a member.