Coffeepot
Manufacturer
Hugh Wishart
(American, active ca. 1784-1837)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1800
MediumSilver with ebony
DimensionsOverall: 15 x 14 x 5 1/2 in. (38.1 x 35.6 x 14 cm)
InscribedMarked on foot: "Wishart" in a rectangle. Monogrammed "DH" in script.
Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Object number80.227
Not on view
DescriptionTall coffee pot in the classical taste -- plain except for engraved bands of bright-cut decorations of leaves and swags around the top of the body and on the cover. The whole in the form of a covered urn of elliptical shape with applied ear-shaped ebony handle and silver spout with two lines of dots around lip. Center of pot has a set of initials engraved within a cartouche.Label TextHugh Wishart American (active ca. 1784-1837) Coffeepot, ca. 1800 Silver Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 80.227 Made by the New York silversmith Hugh Wishart, this large coffeepot displays many characteristics of the neoclassical style, including the urn form of the body with the repeated motif of the urn finial on the lid. Other neoclassical elements include shallow bright-cut, or faceted, decoration of ribbons and leaves around a shield and swags around the top of the body. Exhibition History"Treasures for the Table; Silver from the Chrysler Museum", 6/15-8/6/89 "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. SILVER FROM THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM, The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, Decorative Arts Gallery, September 16, 1993-February 11, 1994 "Classical Traditions at the Moses Myers House," Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA, April 17 - December 1, 2013.Published ReferencesLouise C. Belden, MARKS OF AMERICAN SILVERSMITHS IN THE INESON-BISSELL COLLECTION, (Charlottesville: U. Press of VA for the Henry Francis duPont Winterthur Museum, 1980), p. 452.
