A SILVER PUNCH STRAINER

The monogram is that of Deacon Thomas Greenough of Boston (1710-1785), who was a famous mathematical instrument maker, as well as Deacon of Boston's New Brick Church. He was a patriot, signing the Boston Non-Importation Agreement of 1768, a reaction to the Townsend Act of 1767, calling for a boycott of British goods. A number of Greenough's instruments are preserved in public collections (see S. Bedini, Early American Scientific Instruments and their Makers, 1964, pp. 85-92). His probate inventory lists a number of articles of plate and is preserved in the Massachusetts Historical Society (Folio 495).

Another strainer marked P.REVERE, with identical handles, is in the Yale University Art Gallery (see K. Buhler & G. Hood, American Silver: Garvan and Other Collections in the Yale University Art Gallery, 1970, vol. I, pp. 116-117).