Day 257 - Silver pitcher and goblets
July 29, 2021
How quickly styles change is made abundantly clear in gallery 705, which houses display cases of neoclassical and rococo revival silver and porcelain, along with three tall oil lamps, dating from 1800 to 1850 or so. The neoclassical porcelain objects are heavy on gilding. The rococo silver pitchers, tureens, and goblets are elaborately decorated with repousse' designs of leaves, flowers, and curlicues of all kinds. It's interesting to see the aesthetic preferences of Americans of the first half of the 19th century, as reflected in these objects. It's conspicuous consumption, with the emphasis on conspicuous. I dislike most of what I see.
Quite different from these neoclassical and rococo works are the objects in a display case of Rockingham ware, earthenware decorated with a mottled brown glaze. The style, which originated in England and was brought to the U.S. by immigrant potters, was popular between 1825 and 1870, according to the placard. Some of the pieces strike me as homespun and folksy (although I imagine considerable skill was involved in the glazing) - not what an upper-middle-class woman would want to put on display to show her sophisticated taste. There's a statuette of a poodle, complete with lion cut, holding a basket of flowers in its mouth - the quintessential tchotchke, I think. I wonder how much it would fetch on "Antiques Roadshow."
Today's work is a silver pitcher and pair of goblets made in Philadelphia around 1845 by Robert and William Wilson. The pitcher, about 14 inches high, and the goblets, about 6 or 7 inches high, are relatively restrained in their decoration, which features finely veined repousse' grape leaves and, on the pitcher, clusters of grapes. I like the set for its relative simplicity, but also for its frank acknowledgement of the pleasures of the vine.
Quite different from these neoclassical and rococo works are the objects in a display case of Rockingham ware, earthenware decorated with a mottled brown glaze. The style, which originated in England and was brought to the U.S. by immigrant potters, was popular between 1825 and 1870, according to the placard. Some of the pieces strike me as homespun and folksy (although I imagine considerable skill was involved in the glazing) - not what an upper-middle-class woman would want to put on display to show her sophisticated taste. There's a statuette of a poodle, complete with lion cut, holding a basket of flowers in its mouth - the quintessential tchotchke, I think. I wonder how much it would fetch on "Antiques Roadshow."
Today's work is a silver pitcher and pair of goblets made in Philadelphia around 1845 by Robert and William Wilson. The pitcher, about 14 inches high, and the goblets, about 6 or 7 inches high, are relatively restrained in their decoration, which features finely veined repousse' grape leaves and, on the pitcher, clusters of grapes. I like the set for its relative simplicity, but also for its frank acknowledgement of the pleasures of the vine.
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