18th century, comprising: two lidded coffeepots; two lidded teapots; largest 8-1/2 x 7-1/4 x 3-3/4 in.

Provenance: (larger teapot) by descent in the Howe and Whittemore families of Massachusetts; (coffeepots) Northeast Auctions, lot 398; Collection of John B. and Marie-Teresa Vander Sande, Newbury, Massachusetts

Note: According to an accompanying note written by Elinor Whittemore dated November 1923, the larger teapot "was part of the wedding outfit of Abigail Hubbard of Concord [Massachusetts], who married David Howe of Sudbury, born at the Wayside Inn" around 1740. David was the great-grandson of John How, who opened the Wayside Inn in Sudbury in 1716, which still stands today as one of the oldest operating inns in the United States. The note states that the teapot passed down as a family heirloom through a series of subsequent marriages to Florence A. Whittemore, who acquired it in 1869. Also accompanying the lot is a copy of Florence's account and description of the Wayside Inn, which according to the annotations was "to be read at an exhibition" in 1870.