1994.20.1.A-B, Meriden Britannia Company, Tilting water pitcher set

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Invented and patented by James Stimpson of Baltimore in 1854, ice water pitchers insulated contents by means of metal or glass liners. Designers and manufacturers later improved upon Stimpson's original design, developing double-, triple-, and even quadruple-walled pitchers. As a result of their complex construction, the pitchers were heavy and unwieldy, prompting the development of tilting stands. By the 1870s, pitchers were commonly accompanied not only by stands, but also goblets, waste bowls, and trays, as in the case of this set featuring engraved faux wood grain derived from contemporary Russian metalwork. The popularity of ice water pitcher sets peaked in the 1880s and declined rapidly when the advent of refrigeration and the subsequent establishment of ice plants rendered the form obsolete.

Adapted from

Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 104, 334.

NOTES

TMS Update - GeoXref - place of origin - JBA (10/25/2017)

updated rule - 9/12 (JBA)

I removed techniques from the Medium display field and added them as Getty Vocabulary terms.

I updated Provenance, Exhibition History, Bibliography, and Published References in TMS.

I added the following as a TMS text entry: Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 104, 334.

Catalogue essays

The American Silver Industry, 1840-1925

Artist/designers

Cultures

Geography

Process/materials

Engraving

Historical periods

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

Until 1994: Mary S. Butler, Commerce, Texas [1]

From 1994: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from the above [1]

[1] See Accession Screen (dated May 9, 1994, copy in Collections Records Object File).

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Apply to objects where number equals 1994.20.1.A-B

General Description

Invented and patented by James Stimpson of Baltimore in 1854, ice water pitchers insulated contents by means of metal or glass liners. Designers and manufacturers later improved upon Stimpson's original design, developing double-, triple-, and even quadruple-walled pitchers. As a result of their complex construction, the pitchers were heavy and unwieldy, prompting the development of tilting stands. By the 1870s, pitchers were commonly accompanied not only by stands, but also goblets, waste bowls, and trays, as in the case of this set featuring engraved faux wood grain derived from contemporary Russian metalwork. The popularity of ice water pitcher sets peaked in the 1880s and declined rapidly when the advent of refrigeration and the subsequent establishment of ice plants rendered the form obsolete.