Thomas Fletcher
Sauceboat

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Sauceboat
Datec. 1830
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumSilver
Dimensions4 1/2 × 6 13/16 × 3 13/16 in. (11.5 × 17.3 × 9.7 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Bayou Bend Provisional Class of 2012 in honor of Tricia Rosencranz and Jennifer Hammond
Object numberB.2021.10
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Metals Study Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
DescriptionSilversmith Thomas Fletcher was once in partnership with Sidney Gardiner. Together they made some of the most notable American silver of the early 1800s. After Gardiner’s death in 1827, Fletcher continued in business. In about 1830, he made this sauceboat in the rococo style, rare for a Philadelphia silver object of that date. The sauceboat’s decorative language—with shells, scalloped edges, and a scrolling handle—more closely resembles that of examples made over fifty years earlier. It is possible that Fletcher made it for a client who needed it to match silver that he or she already owned.
Provenance[Jonathan Trace, Portsmouth, New Hampshire]; purchased by [Spencer Marks, Northampton, Massachusetts], 2021; purchased by MFAH, 2021.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Later engraved with a social security number and other unidentified alphabetic notations: A, ASG, and LL or CC
[none]
Marked on the bottom: T. FLETCHER / PHILAD. [within an oval and the name and city separated by pellets]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Fish Knife
Thomas Fletcher
c. 1827–1835
Silver
B.87.2
Entrée Dish
Thomas Fletcher
c. 1830–1842
Silver
B.94.14.A-.C
Pitcher
Fletcher & Gardiner
1815
Silver
B.77.16
April
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving with etching and hand coloring on laid paper
B.59.68.2
February
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving with etching and hand coloring on laid paper
B.59.68.1
November
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving, etching, gouache and watercolor on laid paper
B.59.68.6
July
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving with etching and watercolor on laid paper
B.55.17.3
October
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving, etching, gouache and watercolor on laid paper
B.59.68.5
June
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving with etching, watercolor, and gouache on laid paper
B.59.68.4
May
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving with etching and hand coloring on laid paper
B.59.68.3
December
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving, etching, gouache and watercolor on laid paper
B.59.68.7
January
Henry Fletcher
1730
Engraving with etching and hand coloring on laid paper
B.55.17.1