Benjamin Hiller

  General notes:

Silversmith

  Events in his life were:

• Apprenticed c 1701 to John Coney in Boston MA ¹

• Boston MA, 1708: with Nathaniel Morse, witnessed a deed between his old master, John Coney and William Taylor. ³

• Tankard, 1710-1720
Boston Museum of Fine Arts ⁸
h: 6 14/16"
d: 4 7/8" (base)
wt: 24 oz, 8 dwt

• Hiller made three handsome and stalwart mugs for the First Baptist Church, the first in 1714 engraved as a gift from his wife's parents, Joseph and Mary Russell, the second from his mother-in-law. The third was a bequest of William Snell in 1727, although it is engraved as a gift. Snell made Hiller one of the beneficiaries of his estate and the church "Voted that the twelve ounces of plate [which Snell had left] should be made into a handsome Cup with his name upon it... But one Spoon be Reserved with his name upon for ye use of ye Lord's Table." The Snell mug is Hiller's last dated piece published. His outstanding work, the gallon-capacity tankard in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Delaware, has a domed lid with a broad-based finial and on the handle a familiar cherub tip. A spout cup suggests that he was working in the mid-1730s. His octagonal caster, Yale University Art Gallery, Garvan Collection, is perhaps his most appealing piece and the rarest in form. ⁸

• Appointed in 1716 as Clerk of the Artillery company. in Boston MA ³

• Caster, c 1720-1730
Yale University ¹⁹
h: 5 1/8"
d: 1 9/16" (of base)
wt: 4 oz, 5 dwt
Engraved with Dudley crest; possibly originally owned by Col. William and Elizabeth (Davenport) Dudley.

• Spout cup, c 1725-1735
Yale University ¹⁹
h: 5 11/16"
d: 2 5/8" (of base)
wt: 11 oz, 1 dwt
Engraved R over I L for Joseph and Love (Macy) Rotch of Nantucket

Benjamin married Elizabeth Russell on 10 Feb 1714 in Boston MA. (Elizabeth Russell was born on 1 Aug 1697 in Boston MA.)