(ca. 1777-1809) Indian Trade Silver Lorraine Cross by Robert Cruickshank, Montreal. Silver.

137.8 mm x 70.5 mm. 378.3 grains. Typical hole for suspension with ring. Engraved and chiseled designs on both sides, trilobate head, bilobate terminals. R-C mark in conforming cartouche at center of top bar on one side. The marked side is toned dark gray, opposite side somewhat lighter golden brown. The surfaces are smooth and unpinned, clearly never dug. A classic Lorraine Cross by Robert Cruickshank of Montreal, perhaps the most prolific of the British establishment silversmiths who catered to the fur trade. Though Cruickshank made all sorts of silver objects intended for native consumers, it is this form that he is perhaps most associated with. In 1765, Sir William Johnson's price list for the native trade indicated that a large cross was equal to "1 buck or middling beaver." Considering the etymology of the currency slang "buck" - originating when the value of a buckskin was a dollar - an object like this becomes in a very real way an American-made silver dollar of the 18th century. Cruickshank Lorraine Crosses are highly sought after by collectors for their impressive size and form, and for their central role in the fur trade. While ring brooches and other similar forms were made by the bushel, substantial crosses like this one represented a more significant value and a more culturally distinctive form. While modern counterfeit Indian Trade silver, much of it made for the re-enactor community, is commonplace, this piece is guaranteed as an original and authentic product of Crucikshank's operation. For a heart brooch by Cruickshank (at $2,400), see Martin V, November 2023, lot 1006.

From the Ronald A. Slovick Family Collection.

Estimate: $4000