Coffee Pot
Artist
John Swift
(English, active 1725 - 1758)
Date1746
MediumSilver and wood
DimensionsOverall: 9 1/4 × 4 1/8 inches (23.5 × 10.48 cm)
Credit LineThe Folgers Coffee Silver Collection, Gift of The Procter & Gamble Company; Collected by Joseph S. Atha
Object numberF99-21/17
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 121
Collections
DescriptionCylindrical silver coffee pot on circular foot, with chasing of and scrolls on the body; the spout is decorated with a shell. The center of the body is engraved with a coat-of-arms (Hervey of Chilton, Bucks, impaling Bulkeley). Double scroll wood handle.Gallery LabelThis pot's lively ornament of flowers, scrolls and foliage is achieved by chasing, a technique by which the silver is raised from the vessel's front using tools known as tracers. This process does not remove metal, as with engraving, but rather shapes it into a relief decoration. Although the heavily chased motifs display the organic nature of French Rococo, the solid form of this coffee pot recalls bold Baroque examples. The combined influences create a style of restrained elegance particular to 18th-century English silver.
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