Images(14)

Coffeepot

Date1802-1810

Marked by John Wolfe Forbes (1781 - 1864)

OriginAmerica, New York, New York City

MediumSilver; wood

DimensionsOH: 15 ¾”’ OW (including spout and handle): 9 ¾”; O Diam. (at belly): 5 ¾”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2019-112

DescriptionSilver coffeepot: Stepped circular foot with narrow gadroon border at edge supports a tall, double-bellied pear-shaped body with S-shaped spout terminating in a cast and chased bird’s head. Two shaped silver ferrules are affixed at rim and belly with a broken-scrolled ebonized wooden handle (cracked). Coffeepot surmounted by a hinged double-domed lid with narrow gadrooned border at edge and radiating lobes beneath a soldered cast and chased furled acanthus finial
Label TextOf monumental size, this coffeepot by New York silversmith John Wolfe Forbes (1781-1864) bridges the transition from the late rococo to the early empire style. At 15 ¾ inches in height, the body retains the conservative double-bellied pear shape first introduced in America during the 1750s. The use of a gadroon border on the edge of the foot and lid also hearkens back to an earlier period. Only its enormous scale, lushly-cast acanthus finial and the open-mouthed bird’s head finial speak to the robust aesthetic of the early nineteenth century.

John Wolfe Forbes was born into an extended family of at least seven silversmiths, training under his father and briefly working in partnership with his brother; an uncle and cousins also practiced the craft in New York. Described as the most prolific of the group, John Wolfe Forbes is credited with making both of the only known American plateaux, or large silver-framed mirrors used to ornament the center of dining tables. One of his examples is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other is under the care of the White House Historical Association.

MarkingsMarked in relief on rim of body above juncture of spout: 1) “I.W.F.” in a rectangle; 2) an anchor in an oval; 3) a five-pointed star in an oval; and 4) a man’s profile head facing right in an oval. Also marked in relief twice on base of body: “I.W.FORBES” in a rectangle flanked by an eagle displayed in an oval and by a “C” in an oval. Note: Both full name marks are double struck, possibly over another mark that is now illegible

ProvenanceVendor: Jonathan Trace