Today the term "mug” describes silver vessels with straight or slightly tapered sides, while the word “can” denotes the same form but with a pear-shaped body.  During the colonial period these terms were used interchangeably. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the form evolved into an upward-tapering cylinder with a hollow handle, of which the Bayou Bend can is one of the earliest datable examples. 

Technical notes: The can is raised with a two-part handle, which is attached to a small disk above the base molding.  

Related examples: This is the only Oliver can recorded. Vessels engraved with these same arms include Puig et al. 1989, pp. 239–40, no. 196; Antiques 138 (July 1990), p. 92; Quimby 1995, pp. 133–34, no. 91.

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.