Gift to Alice Townsend Martin, whose initials are engraved on the service, and Benjamin Brandreth McAlpin on the occasion of their marriage on November 10, 1897.

This teapot was a wedding gift to the donor's parents, Alice Townsend Martin, whose initials are engraved on the service, and Benjamin Brandreth McAlpin, on November 10, 1897.

On April 15, 1863, the Widows of the New York Fire Department presented this silver key to John Spencer Giles (1799-1881), a devoted long-term member of the New York Volunteer Fire Department. Among his many offices, Giles served as treasurer of the Widows and Orphans Fund, where he dispensed thousands of dollars in pensions to families of fallen firemen. Keys have a long history as symbolic gifts. In the United States, the gift of ceremonial keys represented an official bestowal of power as well as an honorary welcome or access to a city or organization.

Descended through the Hendricks family of New York.

Descended in the Hendricks family of New York.

This creamer was a wedding gift to the donor's parents, Alice Townsend Martin, whose initials are engraved on the service, and Benjamin Brandreth McAlpin, on November 10, 1897.

These sugar tongs was a wedding gift to the donor's parents, Alice Townsend Martin, whose initials are engraved on the service, and Benjamin Brandreth McAlpin, on November 10, 1897.

This creamer is part of a tea and coffee service presented to Zophar Mills upon his retirement as President of the New York City Fire Department. Mills was a celebrated firefighter whose company was credited with halting the Great Fire of 1835 at Wall Street, preventing destruction of the northern part of the city. Most of the pieces in this service appear to be off-the-shelf forms, personalized with Mills's engraved initials. The tray, however, is engraved with vignettes and allegorical scenes that relate to Mills's career and achievements.

This coffee service is an example of Tiffany & Co.'s Persian, or "Saracenic" designs, first developed by chief designer Edward C. Moore in the 1870s. The firm's Eastern-inspired silver earned it international recognition and prestigious prizes, including Grand Prix awards at the Paris Expositions of 1878 and 1889. Although this coffee set was actually produced more than twenty years after Moore's death, it closely adheres to early Saracenic designs Moore created decades earlier.

This creamer is part of a four-piece tea set was retailed by William Garret Forbes, a prolific silversmith active from 1773 to 1809. In addition to Forbes's name clearly stamped on the underside of the vessels, three of the four pieces bear additional marks of a wheat sheaf and an eagle's head, which indicate the work of Teunis D. DuBois and Joseph DuBois, respectively. The brothers became partners in June 1795 and produced silver both for their own customers and for retailers. Surviving account books kept by Teunis confirm that he maintained a thriving business on his own after 1797 providing New York City silversmiths, jewelers, and merchants with a steady supply of wares for stock. This tea set belonged to Mary Elizabeth Goad Bedlow and John Beekman, who married in 1792. Each piece is engraved with Mary's initials on one side and the Beekman family arms on the other, representing an alliance of the two families.