Collection Highlights
Tontine Coffee House, N.Y.C.
ca. 1797
1907.32
oil on linen, lined to fiberglass
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Museum Collections
Decorative Arts
Box and cufflinks: Van Cortlandts...1940
Object name
Box and cufflinks: Van Cortlandts...1940
Date
1650-1700
Medium
Gold, pearl, enamel
Dimensions
overall (each): 1 1/4 x 1/2 in. ( 3.2 x 1.3 cm )
Description
Pair of gold cufflinks; each cufflink consists of two circular pieces with a pearl set in a dome at the center, dome surrounded with scroll and acanthus leaf design; the two pieces are joined together with an oblong link between the shanks on the reverse.
Credit Line
Bequest of John Marshall Phillips
Object Number
1954.31ab
Gallery Label
These cuff links belonged to Stephanus Van Cortlandt (1643-1700), the first American-born mayor of New York (appointed 1677). Van Cortlandt was a merchant as well as political leader, and in addition to expanding his family's overseas trading operations, he operated a brewery and a sugar mill. The latter was used as a prison when the British occupied New York during the American Revolution.
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
