c. 1760 Paul Revere Engraved Armorial Bookplate for John Gardiner (1714-1764), Fifth Proprietor of Gardiner's Island, New York, Chippendale Rococo Shield with Crest, Brigham 1969 Edition page 160, Display Framed, Choice Very Fine.
This Bookplate is one of Paul Revere's documented works, discussed in detail by Clarence S. Brigham in “Paul Revere's Engravings” (American Antiquarian Society, 1954). The John Gardiner bookplate is unsigned by Revere, but is considered undoubtedly Paul Revere's work, almost identical in mantling and motto ribbon to his signed David Greene and Gardiner Chandler plates. It belongs to what Brigham classifies as Revere's "first group" of bookplates, characterized by an elaborate Chippendale-style mantling with scroll work, flowers, and a motto ribbon, a design Revere reused repeatedly while changing only the coat-of-arms, crest, and name. It likely dates to the 1760s, around the same time as the related Chandler plate. Here's what's known about it. The finely Engraved Bookplate presents an ornate armorial heraldic shield bearing a chevron between three vessels, with a crest above depicting an armored arm grasping a baton, surrounded by the elaborate asymmetrical rococo Chippendale-style mantling. All that is the hallmark of Paul Revere's standard Bookplate engraving practice, decorated with flowing scrollwork, shell forms, and naturalistic floral and foliate sprays. Below the shield, the owner's name "John Gardiner" is engraved in an elegant flowing script. The paper sheet shows attractive sharp printing with some slight scattered foxing, the engraved image retaining sharp definition and clarity throughout. This Bookplate is handsomely presented in a period deep gold giltwood frame with an off-white complementary colored mat (not examined out of its frame). This Bookplate measures 3.75" x 2.75" (by sight) and fully framed to 9.0" x 6.0" for display. Brigham notes known impressions in the American Antiquarian Society's collection, the Baillie collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Libbie collection at Dartmouth College.
John Gardiner (1714-1764) was the fifth proprietor and Lord of the Manor of Gardiner's Island, the family estate off the eastern end of Long Island in what is now East Hampton, New York. Here's what's documented about him.

John graduated from Yale College in 1736. He inherited the island through entail (meaning it passed by a fixed line of succession to the eldest male heir) from his father, David Gardiner, the fourth proprietor, who died in 1751. John was a 1736 graduate of Yale and became the fifth proprietor of Gardiner's Island, receiving it by entail in his 37th year. The estate had descended in the family continuously since Lion Gardiner, the first proprietor, acquired the island from the Montaukett in 1639.

John's management of the island doesn't seem to have been particularly strong. A seventh-generation proprietor later remarked that John was not much of a farmer, paid little attention to his affairs, and died £3,300 in debt. He died on May 19, 1764, and was buried on Gardiner's Island. His tombstone, inscribed with the family coat of arms, reads:

"In Memory of John Gardiner, Esq., of the Ile of Wight, who departed this life May the 19th, A.D. 1764, in the 50th year of his age" / "Isle of Wight" being the name Lion Gardiner originally gave the island.

A rare and important example of Paul Revere's work as a heraldic bookplate engraver, published in the standard Brigham reference, and combining the artistic and historical significance of Revere's craftsmanship with the genealogical interest of the prominent Gardiner family of Gardiner's Island.
[Colonial America, Pre-Revolutionary War, 18th Century America] [Paul Revere, Bookplates, John Gardiner] [Engravings, Prints, Decorative Arts]