Washington Winter Show 2015

45 This page is sponsored by Marjorie Miller and Jordan Richards in honor of The Founders Board of St. John’s Community Services Truxton, she sailed for the West Indies to protect our ships there. On February 9, 1799 she fought her first vicious sea battle when she encountered the French frigate Insurgente off Nevis. Despite slightly outnumbering Constellation in men and guns, Insurgente was defeated by the skillful tactical maneuvers directed by Captain Truxton and his crew. 3 Insurgente was captured, its remaining crew imprisoned, and brought back to the United States. Captain Truxton was praised and thanked in various forms. The grandest token was a sterling silver trophy presented to him by a select group of insurance underwriters from Lloyd’s Coffee House in London, known today as Lloyd’s of London, “as a mark of the high sense they entertain of his gallant conduct… and protection to Commerce....” (Figure 1). 4 Captain Truxton’s silver urn reflects the late 18th and early 19th-century Neo-Classical style, antiquarian in form and decoration. Produced by London silversmith John Robbins, the Truxton urn rests on a trumpet-shaped base, with an ovoid shaped body. It is flanked with two scrolling key-handles. Chased foliage decoration surrounds the top of the urn, and each side has an oval medallion: the obverse contains images of Constellation and Insurgente engaged in battle. The reverse has the inscription: “Presented by the Underwriters and Merchants at Lloyd’s Coffee House in London to Captain Thomas Truxton of the American Frigate Constellation as a mark of their Sense of his Service and Admiration of his Gallant Conduct on taking the Insurgente French Frigate of 44 Guns — the West Indies in Feby 1799.” The urn’s lid, decorated with laurel leaves, mirrors the elements of the base, and is surmounted with the figure of Columbia holding a shield engraved with the United States seal. The form and decoration of silver objects produced in England and Western Europe influenced American silversmiths — the professionals who crafted these remarkable works. In the United States and abroad, proficient silversmiths were well-known and sought-after artisans, who had an intimate understanding of a complicated material. Silver objects produced in Europe were generally finished on a much grander Figure 5: New York Yacht Club Trophy , by Black, Starr and Frost, New York, 1895 (Courtesy Mystic Seaport).