Maker: Samuel Kirk & Sons (1815-1979)
Objects: Gravy Boat and Ladle, Wicomico County
Date: 1906
Medium: Sterling Silver
Dimensions: Gravy boat: Overall height:,7; Overall width, 7 ¾; Overall depth, 4¼”
Dimensions: Gravy ladle: Overall length, 8 1/8; Overall width: 2¼”
Accession number(s): MSA SC 1545-0941-1 (boat) and MSA SC 1545-0941-2 (ladle)
The USS Maryland silver service includes a pair of gravy boats and ladles representing Wicomico and Somerset Counties. Somerset County was created by an Order in Council in 1666 and named for Lady Mary Somerset, daughter of Thomas Arundell of Wardour, and sister of Lady Anne Arundell, wife of Cecilius Calvert, Second Lord Baltimore.
While the seven scenes on each gravy boat are unique to that particular county, the overall appearance of each piece is identical. This gravy boat is decorated with scenes that relate to the early history of the city. Each piece has four main scenes that are separated by festoons of tobacco leaves, while the “border of progress” surrounds the upper portion of the bowl. The Great Seal and the Cruiser are each surrounded by sprays of native trees. The handle terminates in a cornucopia, while an eagle in relief extends out of the upper portion. Oyster shells around the base connect the pieces to the Eastern Shore, and the rope borders symbolize the nautical theme of the service.
The handle of the ladle is formed from a reproduction of a “crownstone” marker of the Mason-Dixon Line. These large limestone markers were placed every five miles along the Mason-Dixon Line, and were decorated with the coats-of-arms of Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Scenes (left to right, top to bottom):
1. First telegraph set (number 89)
2. Great Seal of Maryland
3. Cokesbury Bell (number 87)
4. Greenhill Church [Saint Bartholomew’s Church] (number 83)
3. Ben Davis House (number 86)
Scenes on the reverse:
1. First steel pen (number 88)
2. USS Maryland Cruiser
3. First telegraph set (number 89)
4. Court house at Salisbury (number 85)
5. Greenhill Church [Saint Bartholomew’s Church] (number 84)