Cann

Paul Revere Jr.

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cann, a term used interchangeably with mug during the eighteenth century, refers to a pear- or tulip-shaped drinking vessel with scroll handle and circular foot. This exceptionally large pair was made for Elias Hasket Derby (1739–1799) and his wife Elizabeth, whose interlaced script monogram, EHED, is engraved on the front of each. Derby was a wealthy shipping merchant in Salem, Massachusetts. In April of 1783, Revere recorded in his ledger that he was making a pair of "quart canns for E. H. Darby, Esq." A set of silver beakers by Revere (58.3.1-.4), as well as several pieces of furniture and Chinese export porcelain in the Museum's collection, also belonged to Derby.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art