Teapot

Public Domain

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Images(11)

Maker Daniel C. Fueter(American, 1720–1785)American, 1720–1785

CultureAmerican

Titles

Teapot

Datec. 1762

Made inNew York, New York, United States

MediumSilver and wood

Dimensions6 7/8 × 10 1/4 × 5 1/16 in. (17.4 × 26 × 12.9 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Michael K. Brown Metals Endowment

Object numberB.2025.2

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Metals Study Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

METALWORK

DescriptionNew York silversmith Daniel Christian Fueter was born in Bern, Switzerland, in 1720 and probably served his apprenticeship there. Fueter and members of his family became involved in a 1749 attempt to overthrow the government of Bern and were forced to flee into exile. Fueter was in London by 1752 and registered his mark with the Goldsmiths’ Company the following year. He became a member of the Moravian Church and sailed with other Moravians to New York in 1754. Fueter returned to Switzerland in October 1769, pardoned for his earlier political crimes, and remained there until his death. This teapot is notable for its fine rendering of the Rococo inverted pear, or double-bellied form, and for the beautifully engraved monogram “MFN”—as yet unidentified—that appears on both sides.
ProvenanceBy tradition, descended within a family tracing its ancestry to Albert Albertszen Terhune (c. 1623–1685), who settled in an area now part of Brooklyn; […];

William Little (1780–1864) and his wife Deborah Scott Little (1792–1876); to their daughter Margaret Little Terhune (1825–1906); to her son James L. Terhune (1844–1933); to his daughter Helen Louise Terhune Schock (1884–1966); to her son Charles C. Schock (1919–1985); to his daughter Eileen Schock Laspa; consigned to [Doyle Auctions, New York, April 10, 2024]; purchased by [S. J. Shrubsole, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2025.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Engraved under base: 1762 / N * W
Engraved on each side with the monogram: MFN

Makers marks stamped under base: DCF [within an oval]; N: / YORK [within an irregular surround]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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