The Boston Globe had this story about Beverly’s First Parish church restoring itself using a cache of antique silver including a Paul Revere Ewer that will go on the block at Christie’s in New York later this month:
The renovation of the First Parish Church has restored the 18th-century building to its historic place as a centerpiece of downtown Beverly. But the repairs have come at a cost: a collection of silver tankards, beakers, plates, and mugs fashioned 200 to 300 years ago, including a ewer bearing the mark of Paul Revere.
On Jan. 21, 11 of the items, with a total value estimated between $350,000 and $500,000 will go on sale as part of an auction of American furni ture, folk art, and silver at Christie’s in New York. The proceeds will help pay for the repairs. Hard as it was to give up pieces that are intertwined with the past of a church founded in 1667, it was a tradeoff members of the Unitarian Universalist congregation were willing to make.
“It used to be this gray church in bad need of repair, and now we are this golden beacon in the heart of town,’’ said the Rev. Lyn Plumb, interim minister of the church. “Even the people who were the saddest to see the collection leave understand that it had to happen.’’
Old Church Pays in Silver for Repairs (Boston Globe)