John Coney (5 January 1655 – 20 August 1722) was an early American silversmith and goldsmith from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts. He specialised in engraving. From the 1690s on, Coney was considered the most important Bostonian silversmith of his day. In 1702, he engraved the paper money for Massachusetts. Coney also designed a version of the seal of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

. John Coney was the apprentice of and later brother-in-law to

Jeremiah Dummer Jeremiah Dummer (1681 – May 19, 1739) was an important colonial figure for New England in the early 18th century. His most significant contributions to American history were his ''A Defense of the New England Charters'' and his role in the for ...

, the first American-born silversmith. He married Mary Atwater, sister of Dummer's wife, in 1694. They were widower and widow, Coney was married twice before. He had twelve children in total, but only five daughters survived beyond infancy. PorringerConey-BMA

His last apprentice, from 1716 until the time of Coney's death, was

Apollos Rivoire Apollos Rivoire (November 20, 1702 - July 22, 1754), often known as Paul Revere I, was an American Huguenot silversmith, active in Boston. He was father to Paul Revere, the famous American silversmith and patriot. Biography Rivoire was born in Ri ...

, father of

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, engraver, early industrialist, Sons of Liberty member, and Patriot and Founding Father. He is best known for his midnight ride to ale ...

, and his indirect influence on Revere was considerable. Other apprentices included the brothers Samuel (1684–1713) and John (1692–1720) Gray, early silversmiths from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, and John Burt. Many examples of his work, including two sugar boxes and two chocolate pots, are in the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

. Other public collections containing Coney's work include the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, the

Birmingham Museum of Art The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. It has one of the most extensive collections of artwork in the Southeastern United States, with more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts repres ...

, and the

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is the oldest university art museum in the Western Hemisphere. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ...

. A silver plate by Coney was sold for $324,750 at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

in New York in 2002.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coney, John 1655 births 1722 deaths American silversmiths People from colonial Boston