Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: This tankard was my grandfather's.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: And when he died, I got it through the will.

APPRAISER: It's a very early piece of American silver.

GUEST: Cool.

APPRAISER: It's made by David Jess, or Jesse.

GUEST: Jess.

APPRAISER: Uh, I've seen it written "Jess," I've seen it written "Jesse."

It was made around 1695 to 1700.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

APPRAISER: He was born in 1670 in England.

He was apprenticed around 1682.

Served his apprenticeship for nine years.

So, he would have been, I think, 21 when he finished his apprenticeship.

He would have been 12 when he started it.

When he, uh, ended his apprenticeship, he emigrated to Boston.

GUEST: Huh.

APPRAISER: This would have been about 1691.

GUEST: So cool.

APPRAISER: So, he's making silver in Boston...

GUEST: Yeah?

APPRAISER: ...uh, 1690s, early 1700s.

And he died in 1705.

So, he didn't live for very long.

And so, there's not very many pieces of silver of his around.

This one does not appear to be recorded.

GUEST: At all, anywhere?

APPRAISER: At all.

So, that makes it very, very interesting.

Tell me a little bit more about your family history, 'cause I know it came through your...

The, the family name is Langdon.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: Okay.

And who was the, uh, most famous Langdon that, uh, would have owned this?

GUEST: So, Samuel, I thought Ross, Langdon... APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

GUEST: ...was the president of Harvard during the Revolutionary War.

APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

Right.

GUEST: And this was his.

At least, that's what the family lore is.

APPRAISER: He was president at Harvard from 1774 to 1780?

Samuel Langdon graduated from Harvard in 1740.

He was in the same class as Samuel Adams.

GUEST: (gasps) APPRAISER: So...

GUEST: No way!

APPRAISER: You really do have a real tangible part of history.

GUEST: Cool.

APPRAISER: You can see the, the hammered finish on it, this sort of nice texture on it.

And this is a rat tail here.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: So, the way it's affixed there, that's, uh, sort of a...

GUEST: (chuckles): Rat tail.

APPRAISER: A rat tail join, it's called, yeah.

GUEST: Ooh!

APPRAISER: These initials, "S.E."

below an "L." here, that could be Samuel's father or grandfather.

It does have his maker's mark on it.

It's stamped on the lid, on the body, and on the underside.

It does have this inscription on the front of it.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: "Memento mori."

It's a sort of reminder of death, essentially.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: We're currently at Sturbridge.

Samuel Langdon's house is here at Sturbridge.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: So, the house that we have here would have contained this tankard.

Uh, s, so we believe.

I mean, it seems, it stands...

GUEST: It's amazing.

APPRAISER: ...to reason, right?

GUEST: Yeah, right?

APPRAISER: But the, the house, obviously, wasn't always at Sturbridge.

It was moved here...

GUEST: Yes, yeah.

APPRAISER: ...I think, in the 1950s.

To have a piece of very early American silver be in the presence of the house here...

GUEST: It's so cool.

APPRAISER: ...is, I think, absolutely remarkable.

I would feel that for insurance now, you should insure it for $80,000.

GUEST: (whispering): $80,000?

(chuckles, aloud): Golly.

APPRAISER: I think so, yeah.

GUEST: That's so much money.

Okay, wow.

APPRAISER: Well, it's a very important object.

GUEST: (laughing) APPRAISER: Yeah, it tells a great story.

GUEST: My mom's going to be really happy.

(laughs): It's her family.