GEORGIAN ENGLISH STERLING SILVER PRESENTATION TANKARD WITH HAMTRAMCK / HARRISON FAMILY HISTORY, having a tapered cylindrical well with reeded accents, medial engraved with flower garland and bow-knot motifs featuring center oval cartouche framing "JFH" initials, having scrolled handle, raised on a foot rim, topped by a hinged lid with decorative engraving of "MAINTIEN TON DROIT" above a herald-type symbol of an arm wielding a sword, below featuring a cannon with balls in front of it, a drum on its side, and various weapons and objects behind including two American flags each with fifteen stars. The exterior below rim and the interior lid each impressed with an "I R" maker's mark probably for John Robins and three hallmarks of a lion passant for sterling fineness, a crowned leopard's head city mark for London, and an "f" date mark for 1781. Total weight: 29.64 ozt. Together with four pieces of ephemera comprising an old photo of the tankard having "Silver Tankard / Navajo Rug" written on the back, and three handwritten letters of one unsigned and undated letter regarding information on the hallmarks; another unsigned and undated letter that reads "This silver tankard was purchased at the sale of personal effects of an old friend of Pres. Harrison's - General Hamtrammock [sic] about 18[?]4 + was in possession of Harrison's wife after the death of her husband. His wife gave it to Cleves's mother. Tankard about 1749 by John Rowe. 15 stars in each flag. There was a Capt. John F. Hamtrammock [sic], distinguished in the Battle of Miami in 1794. Resigned March 1, 1882 [sic: incorrect year written] + became a planter near St. Louis - died April 21, 1858", which this letter refers to two different J. F. Hamtramcks, the father Jean-Francois [John Francis] Hamtramck (Canadian-American, 1756-1803), who served in the U.S. Army during the Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War, and the son John Francis Hamtramck (American, 1798-1858), who was under the guardianship of William Henry Harrison after his father died in 1803; and the last letter dated "October 15, 1945" by Cleves Harrison Howell, the great grandson of William Henry Harrison, which reads, "Family tradition of the Harrison and Taylors has it that this tankard was given by an Aide to Camp of Baron Von Stuben [sic] to Benjamin Harrison Signer of the Declaration of Independence after the close of the Revolutionary War. It has been in the possession of some member of the family ever since and come to me via William Henry Harrison (President) through his daughter Anna Tuthill Harrison (my grandmother) who married William Henry Harrison Taylor (my grandfather) my mother Lucy Singleton Taylor Howell". Five pieces total. Circa 1781. 6 1/2" HOA, 5 7/8" H rim, 3 1/2" D rim. 

Tankard in very good visual condition with wear, surface scratches, nicks, and denting, engraving with minor worn spots, lid with a crack at terminal of hinge, rim out of round, foot rim with significant denting and bending; photo with significant tears and two losses; letters in very good visual condition with some toning and other imperfections.