Ice Cream Server

Public Domain

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Images(3)

MakerPossibly Whiting Manufacturing Company(American, active 1866–1926)American, active 1866–1926

Retailer Michael W. Shaw(American, 1855–1923)American, 1855–1923

CultureAmerican

Titles

Ice Cream Server

Datec. 1880

Probable placeNew York, New York, United States

Retailed inGalveston, Texas, United States

MediumSilver

Dimensions10 15/16 × 2 13/16 × 1 3/8 in. (27.8 × 7.1 × 3.5 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Spencer Marks, Ltd. in memory of Dale E. Bennett

Object numberB.2020.3

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Texas Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

METALWORK

DescriptionGerman immigrant Michael W. Shaw retailed and marked this ice cream server. He established the first jewelry story in Texas when he founded his firm in Galveston, which he claimed to have done in 1845. It is unclear at this time whether Shaw, who seems to have specialized in jewelry and watches, ever manufactured silver.
ProvenanceDale E. Bennett, Dallas; [unknown auction]; [Spencer Marks, Southampton, Massachusetts]; given to MFAH, 2020.
Published References Bennett, Dale E. “Ice Cream and Its Servers, Part One of Two.” Silver Magazine (May/June 2005). Bennett, Dale E. “Ice Cream and Its Servers, Part Two of Two.” Silver Magazine (July/August 2005). Goldstein, Danna. The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. 600–1. Discusses economic and cultural changes surrounding the popularity of ice cream and the variety of forms used to serve and consume it. “Shaw, Michael W.” The Handbook of Texas Online. The Texas State Historical Association. https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fsh45. Accessed May 6, 2020. Venable, Charles L. Silver in America, 1840–1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), p. 128. Discusses the significance of foods requiring refrigeration and the implements used to serve and consume them. Williams, Susan. Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts: Dining in Victorian America. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996, pp. xviii–xix. A brief description of the proliferation of specialized serving and place setting pieces in 19th-century America. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

The handle engraved with a monogram: CBS.

On square section of handle, incuse: GALVESTON / M. W. SHAW
On reverse of handle near blade, incuse: 158 / STERLING.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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