Cohasset church to get a boost by auctioning antique tankards, chair

January 13, 2009 08:44 PM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

(Video by John R. Ellement)

Rev. Jan Carlsson-Bull and parishioner Galt Grant of the First Parish Church in Cohasset talk about the upcoming auction.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

COHASSET -- They once represented, in a sense, a most un-Christian sentiment, something more like sticking out the tongue than turning the other cheek.

Tankards that sent a message

Four finely crafted silver tankards were symbols of a simmering Colonial-era dispute between a Hingham church and its rebellious rival, The Second Church of Hingham. Crafted by one of the area's finest silversmiths of the day, Jacob Hurd, and donated to The Second Church by one of its richest members, Deacon John Jacobs, they signified pride and independence -- and ultimately fueled a secession to Cohasset.

Today, the 1728 gift of the tankards may help generate hundreds of thousands of badly needed dollars for the church, now the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Cohasset.

The congregation has hired Sotheby's to auction the tankards, along with other pieces of silver that have rested largely unused inside a combination safe beneath the stairs of the parish house on North Main Street for some 50 years.

John D. Ward, vice president of Sotheby's silver department, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the four tankards are in pristine condition.

"They are all in absolutely lovely condition,'' he said, adding that Hurd, a Boston silversmith, was "fantastic.''

Ward said the four tankards fed the low-intensity feud that simmered between the Hingham churches for years as The Second Church asked to break off on its own. They were "a big statement'' that Cohasset could survive, he said. "There was an element of one-upsmanship.''

The congregation has also asked Sotheby's to auction a pair of beakers with the word "Revere" scratched onto the bottom. Also on the block will be two beakers given to the church in 1824 that memorialize Cohasset residents who helped rescue Danish seafarers in 1793.

Galt Grant, a parishioner who is helping steer the project to its conclusion, said the daughter of a parishioner first recognized the value of the silver.

Marley Rabstenek, who is involved in the Asian art business in New York City, examined the silverware in 2005. Last year, when looking to establish the congregation's long-term financial health, parishioners turned to the silverware and decided to auction it to raise capital.

"The parishioners understand the need,'' Grant said. "There has been no controversy.''

But there was a surprise.

Parish leaders were interviewing representatives of major auction houses in the living room of the parish community house when an auctioneer became interested in a chair pushed up against the wall.

It turned out to be a "carved and figured maple armchair" that is expected to bring between $50,000 and $100,000 at the auction.

"It was, huh?" Grant said with a chuckle. "We had no idea.''

He said every object in the parish hall and church has since been examined by experts. "They could find nothing of value, not of that nature,'' he said.

Money raised through the auctions will be used to maintain the church, parish hall and programs, Grant said. Exact plans on how to spend the money have not been finalized. "It really depends on how much money we get,'' he said.

Grant said he and his wife, Susan, will be in New York for the auction Jan. 23 and 24. Sotheby's has projected high-end value of $300,000.

"I think it will be a lot of fun. I'd love to see the whole scene, and I'd love to be present as the silver and chair get sold,'' said Grant, who added he has not attended a major auction before."I wouldn't miss it, frankly."