Bailey, Banks & Biddle Pair of Sterling Ecclesiastical Cruets, Philadelphia, 1954

This lovely pair of cruets is designed as small flagons. They are beautifully shaped with a clean surface. The hinged covers have stepped domes with crosses. Each of the stepped pedestal bases is engraved 'CLASS OF 1954' and one of the cruets is engraved with an 'A' for agua (water) and the other a 'V' for vino (wine).

Ecclesiastical silver is quite rare on the retail market as most religious institutions usually keep their collections. 

Provenance: Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Episcopal Divinity School was formerly the Episcopal Theological School founded in 1867 in Cambridge; it changed its name in 1974 when it combined with the Philadelphia Divinity School which was founded in 1857. In 2018, the school merged with the Union Theological Seminary in New York City and the campus was acquired by Leslie University. For more history of the school, see here.

These lovely cruets are marked underneath 'BAILEY, BANKS & BIDDLE/ PHILADELPHIA/ 925-1000/ STERLING/ 228'. They measure 9 inches tall, have a combined weight of 21.70 troy ounces and are in excellent antique condition.