Communion Dish
Benjamin Burt
1781
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
3.2 × 32.4 × 32.4 cm (1 1/4 × 12 3/4 × 12 3/4 in.)
Classification
dish (vessel)
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
73707
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Because silver was associated with purity and durability, it was the most popular material used to fashion objects for administering the Sacrament. Matching sets were rare, and church silver was usually acquired piecemeal over a period of decades. By the end of the 18th century, the First Church of Medford, Massachusetts, had 20 pieces of communion silver, all given by different donors and fashioned by different makers.