Communion Flagon

1748 - 1757

The observance of communion or the symbolic partaking of bread and wine in commemoration of the last supper of Jesus Christ occupied a central role in the colonial American church. Breaking off from the Catholic notion of Eucharist as a miracle officiated by priests, Puritan leaders such as John Winthrop believed Communion essential to the functioning of the "Godly Community" settled in America. This pewter flagon once held the wine served to parishioners as part of communion. Pewter crafts in colonial America were expensive and churches often relied on the goodwill of wealthier members of the congregation for support. This container was part of a set donated, as its inscription reads, as a "Gift of Mr. George Farrar to the Church of Christ in Lincoln [Massachusetts] 1757."