Heavily repoussé surfaces were decorated by hand and therefore unique. A range of motifs, including flowers, landscapes, Chinese pagodas, Gothic castles, and, in spite of their obvious incongruity, landmark Baltimore buildings, were integrated into these fictional scenes. Samuel Kirk and Andrew Ellicott Warner were the principal disseminators of this style. The pitcher’s elongated form and characteristic angular handle, probably French-derived, was adapted for ewers and water pitchers as well as cream pitchers.

Related examples: Goldsborough et al. 1983. pp. 148, 151, nos. 171, 172, 178; McFadden and Clark 1989, pp. 86, 89; Conger 1991, pp. 364–65, no. 233: Weidman et al. 1993, p. 161; Talbott 1995, pp. 119, 123–24, nos. 64a, b. A kettle on stand by Samuel Kirk & Son Co. that came from another branch of the donor’s family was given to the MFA, Houston (acc. no. 86.326.1, .2).

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.