Presentation Pieces in the Museum of History and Technology / Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology, Paper No. 47 [Smithsonian Institution]

by Margaret Brown Klapthor

TO MR. AND MRS. ROBERT TODD LINCOLN

Among the pieces of presentation silver acquired in 1960 by the Smithsonian Institution is a covered urn that was given to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Todd Lincoln by their children on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary.[30] Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the President, became a prominent lawyer in Chicago and later served as president of the Pullman Company, as Secretary of War in the cabinets of President Garfield and President Arthur, and as Minister to Great Britain under President Benjamin Harrison. The silver gilt urn has two handles, measures 13 inches from the base to the finial on the cover, and 7 inches at its widest point. Bands of ornamentation feature both the grape design and the acorn and oak-leaf design. It is inscribed:

Robert Todd Lincoln––Mary Harlan 1868-1918

The gilt wash, although almost completely polished off the outside surface, still covers the inside of the urn and its lid.