But after scrambling to raise funds by themselves and turning up short, members of the church trained their focus on the silver.
“We knew that some churches had sold silver’’ before, said Lavoie. “But we had no idea that ours would be that historic or that valuable.’’
The collection features rare pieces of craftmanship by early colonial silversmiths such as Paul Revere Sr., father of the American patriot, who made a tankard that Sotheby’s estimates to be worth up to $30,000.
The collection’s signature piece is a pair of standing cups given to the church by former governor William Stoughton, a preacher and prominent landowner who left the chalices in his will.
The cups, crafted by Jeremiah Dummer, have baluster stems with leaf collars and have an estimated value of $1 million to $2 million, according to Sotheby’s.
There is also a set of beakers made by Englishmen John Hull and Robert Sanderson, who practiced their craft in the new colonies. The value of the beakers is estimated at $300,000 to $400,000.
“They are on a scale that is pretty much unheard of in colonial American silver,’’ said John Ward, who heads Sotheby’s silver department. “Most of the churches are lucky to have one or two small beakers that the most prominent members of the church would use.’’
With funding scarce and buildings in tatters, Ward said more and more struggling churches are beginning to reevaluate whether to cash in on religious silver stored in museums or bank vaults.
United First Parish Church in Quincy, where John Adams once worshipped, withstood criticism about a decade ago when it decided to raise $1.7 million for emergency building repairs. Among the trove of 11 pieces sold then were pre-Paul Revere silver and other 17th and 18th century silver consigned by the church.
“There’s always a great deal of soul-searching about parting with these’’ collections, said Ward, who worked on the Quincy sale.
