Whiting Manufacturing Company
Ice Cream Knife and Box

RetailerAmerican, active New York, 1874–1881
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Ice Cream Knife and Box
Date1875–1881
Possible placeNorth Attleboro, Massachusetts, United States
Retailed inNew York , New York, United States
Possible placeNew York, New York, United States
MediumSilver and silver gilding
DimensionsKnife: 11 x 2 9/16 in. (27.9 x 6.5 cm)
Box: 1 7/8 × 12 1/4 × 4 1/4 in. (4.8 × 31.1 × 10.8 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Phyllis and Charles Tucker in memory of Daisy Marchman Steakley
Object numberB.97.11.1,.2
Non exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This captivating design embodies the prevailing aesthetic of the 1860s. Its birdlike claw handle is transformed into a meandering vine that repeats the bowl's contour as a three-dimensional pheasant scurries along the end of the handle and into the foilate ornament. At this time an attribution to any manufacturer is premature, since no documented example is known. The original purpose for this utensil may have been as an ice cream knife, although later catalogues identify it as a vegetable spoon.

Technical notes: The bowl has a granulated surface and gilt trim. The serving piece comes in a box, which is believed to have originally accompanied it, labeled "P. Ford, 847 Broadway, N.Y."

Related examples: Venable 1994, pp. 152–53, fig. 6.2.5.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


ProvenanceDonald Ritchie, San Francisco: [Butterfield & Butterfield, San Francisco]; Phyllis and Charles Tucker, Houston; given to MFAH, 1997.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Engraved on back of bowl: M
STERLING I A

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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