Samuel Bell was Texas's finest and most prolific silversmith. Born near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he later moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he advertised swords and pistols, spurs, jewelry, spoons, and cups. In 1851 Bell left Knoxville and settled in San Antonio. There he reestablished his business and eventually formed a partnership with his three sons. Small cups, both with and without handles, are the Bells' most prevalent extant hollowware form. The uncomplicated design, fine craftsmanship, and heavy gauge of Bayou Bend's cup is characteristic of their best silver.

Technical notes: The body is a seamed construction.

Related examples:  Warren 1968, K-I-A; Steinfeldt and Stover 1973, pp. 162–63.

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.