Collection Highlights
Come in, and Prevent a "Draft"
Date:
ca. 1863
Object Number:
PR.055.3.105
Medium:
Paper
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Pocket communion set
Object Number:
1928.22a-c
Date:
ca. 1854
Medium:
Silver
Dimensions:
Part (Communion cup): 2 3/4 x 3 7/8 in. (7 x 9.8 cm)
Part (paten): 1/4 x 3 x 4 3/8 in. (0.6 x 7.6 x 11.1 cm)
Part (pit
Marks:
engraved: front centers: the arms of the Clarkson family, shield with a silver bend engraved with three rings, surmounted by an armor helmet and a dragon's head, surrounded by foliate scrolls and draped at the bottom with a banner that reads, "DEO FIDENDO
Description:
Wrought silver portable communion set including a Communion cup/ beaker, paten and pitcher center of each piece engraved with the arms of the Clarkson family, shield with a silver bend engraved with three rings, surmounted by an armor helmet and a dragon's head, surrounded by foliate scrolls and draped at the bottom with a banner that reads, "DEO FIDENDUM" in roman letters; below the arms in gothic script, "A. V. C." over, "JUNE 1854" in roman letters; makers' marks on the bases.
Gallery Label:
This pocket communion set belonged to Augustus Vallette Clarkson (1829-1907), the long-time rector of St. Augustine's Church in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, which he founded in 1853. Much beloved by parishioners, Clarkson actively served the church's community but never drew a salary. According to the parish's history, he was remembered as a peripatetic minister who was always "being driven to call on the sick and elderly" confined to their homes, when he would have used this small, portable set, consisting of a miniature paten, chalice, and flagon for the symbolic bread and wine of the Eucharist. Clarkson was ordained as a priest by the New York Diocese on July 2, 1854, and it is possible that this set was given to him in anticipation of that event.
Credit Line:
Gift of M. F. Savage
Provenance:
Augustus Vallette Clarkson (1829-1907); to Moses Frederick Savage (1851-1934), the donor.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
