Sugar Urn
PeriodCirca 1790
Place MadeNew York, New York, U.S.A.
MediumSilver
Dimensions9.5 × 3.13 × 3.13 in. (24.1 × 7.9 × 7.9 cm)
InscribedOn bowl front, florid monogram "C A L." On plinth front, "E*F to C*A*L."
ClassificationsSilver
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Lewing E. Waring, 1945
Object number2036
DescriptionSilver sugar urn, consisting of a circular elongated bowl with a simple beadedNotesJohn Schanck was born in 1774, the youngeset child of Captain John Schanck and his wife Maria Denise. He chose to follow his brother into the silversmith trade. His older brother, Garret, apprenticed under Daniel Van Voorhis (1751-1825), in New York City. Voorhis was Garret's and John's third cousin. It was not uncommon for family members to be connected within a trade in this manner. John may have also apprenticed with Daniel Van Voorhis, who in 1790 had six young men in residence probably as apprentices or journeymen according to census records. Records also indicate that John left Voorhis' shop and started working with his brother, first at 25 Fair Street and then at 133 Water Street in New York City. By the time John's brother Garret died, John was 21 and ready to take over his older brother's business. After he and Garret's widow Sarah settled the estate, John purchased the business from her in 1797. By that time, Sarah had remarried to another silversmith. Her second husband, Joseph DuBois, was Garret and John's first cousin. John Schanck married Maria Van Nuyse and the couple had nine children, several of whom died in infancy. The year John purchased the business, he placed an advertisement for his shop in the Times Piece and Literary Companion, a newspaper published in New York and edited by Philip Freneau. In 1799, John and Micha Schenck left the bustling city and moved to Middletown Point (now Matawan) where they had both grown up. John continued his silversmithing work. He was active in local politics and served on the Middletown Township Committee from 1816 to 1819, where he was listed as "John Schanck, silversmith." Seven of their ten children were baptized at the Old Brick Dutch Reformed Church. John Schanck died in 1864 at the age of 91.
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