Unknown American
Cup

Public Domain

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Maker Unknown American

Retailer Hyde & GoodrichAmerican, active 1829–1861

CultureAmerican

Titles

Datec. 1845–1861

Retailed inNew Orleans, Louisiana, United States

MediumSilver

Dimensions3 7/8 × 3 1/4 × 4 5/8 in. (9.8 × 8.3 × 11.7 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Craig and Tarlton, Inc.

Object numberB.68.2

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Metals Study Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

METALWORK

DescriptionIn the nineteenth century, the can’s name, style, method of production, and function changed altogether. Known as a cup, it was intended for children as a gift or an award. Rather than raised and planished to achieve a smooth surface, it was simply cut out of sheet silver and seamed together. Even the decorative band of anthemia forming the foot was mass-produced with a roller die.

Related examples: Mackie, Bacot, and Mackie 1980, pp. 12–13, no. 10.

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.
ProvenanceCraig and Tarlton, Inc. Raleigh, North Carolina; given to MFAH, 1968.
Exhibition History"Containers and Vessels," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 21, 1989–January 1990, subsequent tour

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Engraved on side: SHD

On base: mark of Hyde and Goodrich [Mackie, Bacot, and Mackie 1980, p. 126, center column, sixth from top]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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