Art Institute of Chicago

Communion Dish

Benjamin Burt (American, 1729–1805)

Date

1781

Medium

Silver

Culture

Boston

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Because silver was associated with purity and durability, it was the most popular material used to fashion objects for administering the Sacrament. Matching sets were rare, and church silver was usually acquired piecemeal over a period of decades. By the end of the 18th century, the First Church of Medford, Massachusetts, had 20 pieces of communion silver, all given by different donors and fashioned by different makers.

The authoritative record is held by Art Institute of Chicago. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.