Notes
This silver caster is part of a six-piece "Warwick" caster or cruet set once owned by Patrick Henry. It was made circa 1733 by London silversmith Thomas Rush in the style of George II.
The earliest recorded provenance for these pieces is detailed in a letter (04.13.2) by Henry's great-granddaughter, Lucy Gray Henry Harrison (1857–1944), to Philadelphia auctioneer Stan V. Henkels on May 25, 1910: "I have six pieces of silver which Henry bought in 1777, when he was first Governor of Virginia, they are a set of casters, very graceful design and fine workmanship, a silver frame for a platter and 4 salt cellars, these are oval in shape with 4 small feet and lined with blue glass (two of these blue glass linings are broken but can easily be replaced.) In every other respect the silver is in perfect condition and each piece is marked P.H. 1777."
In a later letter (04.13.19) to Henkels dated December 10, 1910, Harrison recalls of the silver, "I have heard my father [William Wirt Henry (1831–1900)] say that it was supposed to have been bought at the sale of Lord Dunmore’s effects, but, even if this is not so it must have been imported." This may be true, as the casters are English in origin, date to the period, and Henry is believed to have also purchased Dunmore's Latin book (76.26.1) at this sale on June 25, 1776.
Each caster and stand bear the engraving "PH 1777." It is not known when this was added; however, it likely coincides with the engravings on Henry's saltcellars (76.19) to either celebrate the anniversary of his marriage to Dorothea Dandridge, which occurred earlier on October 9, 1777 or his election to his second term as governor on May 29, 1777.
Upon Henry's death, the caster set was listed in his 1799 inventory of Red Hill as "1 silver rim & casters" worth £13, and in his 1802 inventory as "1 set of castors."
The set was later inherited by Patrick and Dorothea Henry's youngest son, John (1796–1868). Following the death of John Henry in 1868, the casters appear in an estate inventory taken at Red Hill as part of "1 Set Silver ware, spoons, forks, knives & Ladle, Fruit Dish & Boxes & castors." This grouping of items was valued at $125.
By 1910, the casters were owned by Lucy Gray Henry Harrison. On December 20, 1910, the set was auctioned off in Philadelphia, PA at Book Auction Rooms of Samuel T. Freeman & Co., with a catalog compiled by Stan V. Henkels; listed as item 418 on page 67 of the catalog. The casters sold for $200 to Charles L. Hamilton at this auction. It was later sold through Sotheby's from the property of Virginia Lee Koepler (1918–2010) on January 30, 1991. Ken Kercheval purchased the set at that auction.
The set again went to auction on October 29, 1995, through Skinner, Inc., but did not sell. On January 19, 1996, the PHMF purchased the caster set from Kercheval.