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.