Philadelphians were probably introduced to Rococo design through imported English silver. In response to the new style, the coffeepot, like other vessels, evolved from the single-bellied to the double-bellied shape. The addition of cast elements—finials, handle sockets, and spouts, along with gadrooned rims, engraved ornament, and a scrolled wooden handle—completed the form’s transformation.

Technical notes: The finial is soldered.  

Related examples: One other Bayly coffeepot is recorded, at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts (acc. no. 1962.3).

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.