A very attractive pair of covered pots-de-creme from a dinner service made for one of New England’s prominent maritime trading families. The service was made for Nathaniel Silsbee (1773-1850) of Salem, Massachusetts a sixth generation descendant of the family and each piece is monogrammed with a gilded S.  Nathaniel left school at 14 and went to sea and within six years was given command of a ship belonging to Salem’s merchant prince, Elias Haskett Derby. This American success story continued with Nathaniel retiring at age 28 from his shipping business, marrying the very wealthy Mary Crowninshield, and moving on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Massachusetts House of Representatives, the Massachusetts State Senate, and the U.S. Senate…he deserved a nice dinner service! These lovely pieces are hand-painted in sepia with “Auspicious Figures” alternating with clusters of  “Hundred Antiques” and, though not readily visible in the photos, are meticulously detailed throughout with gilded highlights. Very slight loss to some gilding otherwise great condition, each measuring about 3 1/4″ tall. Circa 1810.   $850.00 each.                                                             And with many thanks to Charles and Sandy Cluthe for their brilliant research.