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Teapot, Sugar Dish, and Cream Pot

Dateca. 1835

Marked by Jehu Williams (1788-1859) and John Victor (1793-1845) (Williams & Victor)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Lynchburg

MediumSilver; ivory

DimensionsTeapot: Height (with lid): 12 1/16"; Height (without lid): 10 3/8"; Length (handle to spout tip): 13"; Width (widest point): 7 3/16"; Width of foot: 5 5/8"; Width of milled banding top to foot: 9/16", 3/4", 3/8", 9/16". Sugar Dish: Height (with lid): 8 3/8"; Height (without lid): 6 3/16"; Width (widest point): 6 5/16"; Width of foot: 4 3/16"; Width of milled banding top to foot: 1/8", 3/4", 3/8", 9/16". Cream Pot: Height (to top of handle): 7 13/16"; Length (handle to lip): 6 3/4"; Width (widest point) 4 5/16"; Width of foot: 3 1/2"; Width of milled banding top to foot: 1/8", 3/4", 3/8", 9/16".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Barbara J. Bilderback, Charles A. Brothman, Mr. and Mrs. John P. Doley, Dr. and Mrs. James E. Drake, Frank L. Ellsworth, Peter H. Gleason, Joanna Bailie Gunderson, Mr. and Mrs. Roger Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald L. Hurst, Mimi Keba, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce McRitchie, Mr. and Mrs. P. William Moore, Jr., Sandra J. Repp, Ann D. Sandler, Julianne Stanton, Elizabeth B. Stvan, Caroline B. Talbot, Almeda R. Wilking, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth M. Wolfe, Col. and Mrs. Charles Yerkes, Jr., and Anne E. Young in memory of Arthur Kimball

Object number2016-168,1-3

DescriptionRaised tea/coffeepot, sugar dish with lid, and cream pot on stepped feet all of robust empire style ornamented with milled bandings of foliate-dart and leafy-floral patterns; the period engraved initials JWF for Joel Walker Flood on each piece and on the lid and body of the sugar dish. Finials on tea/coffee pot and sugar dish are low leafy clusters on domed lids, the domes of each lid serving as the means for opening the objects, not the finials. Each object marked four times in relief on base “WILLIAMS & VICTOR” within a rectangle, and stamped with eagles with downturned wings.

TEAPOT: Stepped circular base edged with milled banding of foliate darts, foot rising to an upper milled banding of flowers between scrolling leaves. Foot supports a deep bulbous body with stepped top, same foliate dart banding at shoulder and top just below lid. Flat hinged lid rises to high knob-shaped dome surmounted by a low-lying leaf-cluster finial. S-shaped silver handle ornamented on top with acanthus leaf. Two bone or ivory insulators attached to upper juncture with four pins (one missing, two possibly replaced) and lower juncture with two pins. Angular S-shaped spout cast at lower bend with foliate leaves. Top of spout is capped by a truncated oval pattern. Engraved in feathered script with the initials JWF for Joel Walker Flood in on the body. Marked four times in relief on base “WILLIAMS & VICTOR” within a rectangle, and stamped with eagles with downturned wings.

SUGAR DISH: Stepped circular base edged with milled banding of foliate darts, foot rising to an upper milled banding of flowers between scrolling leaves. Foot supports a deep bulbous body with steeped top, same foliate dart banding at rim. Domed lid with flange rised to a broad knob surmounted by a low-lying leaf-cluster finial. Engraved in feathered script with the initials JWF for Joel Walker Flood in on the body. Marked four times in relief on base “WILLIAMS & VICTOR” within a rectangle, and stamped with eagles with downturned wings.

CREAM POT: Stepped circular base edged with milled banding of foliate darts, foot rising to an upper milled banding of flowers between scrolling leaves. Foot supports a deep bulbous body with same foliate dart banding at shoulder. The lip of the pot edged with a narrow beaded banding. Opposite the lip is an S-shaped handle with acanthus leaf at top. Engraved in feathered script on the body at appoximately 4:00 from handle with the initials JWF for Joel Walker Flood in on the body. Marked four times in relief on base “WILLIAMS & VICTOR” within a rectangle, and stamped with eagles with downturned wings.
Label TextJehu Williams and John Victor worked in partnership as silversmiths, watch-, and clock-makers in Lynchburg, Virginia, between 1813 and 1845. Their silver production is usually associated with spoons, ladles, and sugar tongs. To date, no hollowware other than this teaset is known by the partnership. The finials, or decorative ornaments on the lids of the teapot and sugar dish, are the most unusual feature of the set. Formed as low, leafy clusters, they do not serve as functional handles—the lids must be opened by grasping the sides of the domes.

The owner of these pieces, Joel Walker Flood (1799-1858), was a prominent medical doctor in Buckingham County and served as a state senator from 1833-1836. In his will, he directed “I lend to my beloved wife Eliza Bolling Flood . . . my Silver plate . . . to be enjoyed by her during her life and after her death to be passed [on to] and enjoyed by My grandson Joel Walker Trent Flood during his life and after his death to his child or children as the case may be.” The reference to “my Silver plate” most likely included this tea service, which descended in the Flood family until 2016.

Colonial Williamsburg also owns two other objects marked by Williams & Victor: a teaspoon stamped with the firm’s initial mark “W & V,” and a tall case clock engraved on its dial “Williams & Victor / LYNCHBURG.” Together, this group of objects illustrates the range of Williams & Victor’s work for residents of the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

InscribedTeapot and cream pot each engraved on one side of body with sprigged script "JWF". Body and cover of sugar dish each engraved with same monogram
MarkingsEach object marked four times in relief on base “WILLIAMS & VICTOR” within a rectangle,flanked to left and right by the relief mark of an eagle with downturned wings in a rounded square reserve