A sterling silver tray presented to Colonel Abram Duryée.
Hindman Auctions (hindmanauctions.com)
The Artifact:
A sterling silver tray presented to Colonel Abram Duryée
Condition:
The tray—10 inches in diameter and weighing approximately 25 ounces—is in excellent condition.
Details:
On December 24, 1859, a group of New York City merchants and citizens presented Abram Duryée, colonel of the city’s renowned 7th New York State Militia (NYSM), with an 11-piece, Tiffany & Co. sterling silver set to mark his retirement. Duryée, 44, a wealthy mahogany importer, had been involved in the city’s militia since 1833, when he enlisted as a private in the 142nd NYSM, rising in the ranks to eventually assume command of the 7th NYSM in 1849. In presenting the “testimonial”—comprising an elaborately engraved large tray, the small tray pictured here, two pitchers, a tankard, and six goblets—the group noted that Duryée had “conferred great advantages on the city in the devotion which you have shown in the cause of citizen soldiery, in developing the esprit de corps which now so happily exists in most of the regiments of the city, and particularly in bringing the Seventh Regiment … to its present high state of efficiency and discipline.”
Duryée’s retirement from military affairs didn’t last. In April 1861, he raised and was appointed colonel of the 5th New York Infantry, known as “Duryée’s Zouaves,” which he led at the Battle of Big Bethel that June. After being promoted to brigadier general months later, Duryée saw action with the Army of the Potomac, being wounded at Second Bull Run, South Mountain, and at Antietam in September 1862. After that battle, Duryée took a leave of absence, during which his brigade was given to another general. He resigned his commission in January 1863 when the army rejected his claims to his old command. In 1873, Duryée was appointed New York City Police Commissioner. He died in 1890 at 75, survived by his wife and four children.
Quotable:
Two days after receiving the testimonial, Duryée wrote a letter of thanks for the “spontaneous and generous offering,” which Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper published in full in its January 7, 1860, issue. The letter read in part: “[W]ith heartfelt pleasure … I accept this magnificent gift. Need I say how deeply I appreciate this compliment from the leading merchants of one of the largest commercial cities in the world? It is a memento that thrills, with acute pleasure, the sensibilities; and when my heart shall have ceased to beat with grateful emotions, this elegant testimonial, bearing the glorious emblems of our country, denoting a period of peace, will be handed from generation to generation, reflecting, in glittering rays, the spontaneous action of the merchants and citizens of New York.”
Value:
$8,050 (realized at Cowan’s Auctions in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2016). “This is a magnificent Tiffany sterling silver tray, beautifully engraved and embellished,” a Cowan’s representative noted at the time.
