Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Epergne

Maker Thomas Pitts I (English)

CultureEnglish

Date1770-1771

MediumSilver

DimensionsOverall: 16 x 26 x 21 in. (40.6 x 66 x 53.3 cm)

InscribedHallmarks: Central support (78.116a, struck on side where top bowl fits): Black letter capital P (date letter for 1770-1771); Leopard head crowned (London assay); Lion passant (sterling standard); T P (maker's mark). Large basket (78.116b, struck on bottom): marked the same as the central support with engraved 158=17. Pair of small baskets (78.116c-d, struck on bottom): Lion passant (sterling standard); T P (maker's mark). Set of four dishes (78.116e-h, struck on bottom): marked the same as the small baskets. Arm supports for two small baskets (78.116i-j, not marked). Arm supports for four dishes (78.116k-n, not marked).

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number78.116

On View

Not on view

DescriptionSix-armed epergne. C-scroll legs with floral swags around body. Central dish, open work resting on column. From TREASURES FOR THE TABLE catalog: "This high-rococo-style epergne was developed for use in the center of the table so that guests could help themselves to sweetmeats, fruits, and other desserts placed in its baskets and dishes. It is not known when the epergne form was first developed, but most of them date from the middle of the eighteenth century on.

Exhibition History"Treasures for the Table; Silver from the Chrysler Museum," 6/15-8/6/1989. Published ReferencesMark Clark, "Silver Treasures for the Table," The Chrysler Museum BULLETIN, Vol. 19, No. 6 (June 1989), p. 2 ill. Essays by David Revere McFadden, entries by Mark A. Clark. TREASURES FOR THE TABLE: SILVER FROM THE CHRYSLER MUSEUM. Hudson Hills Press, New York, In Assocation with The American Federation of Arts and The Chrysler Museum. 1989: pp. 44-45, no. 1.