Images(14)

Sugar Dish

Dateca. 1825

Marked by Thibault

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumSilver

DimensionsOverall with lid: 10 9/16 × 7 1/2 × 5 1/2in. (26.8 × 19.1 × 14cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2021-35,A&B

DescriptionSilver sugar dish or urn with separate lid: Stepped circular foot with milled banding edge ornamented with sailing ships supports a large globular body with incurving neck and flared collar formed of milled banding ornamented with palmetto leaves and beads. Domed lid with plain edge is surmounted by a cast fruiting finial surrounded by grape leaves; finial is fastened via a threaded post and (replacement?) nut. Body ornamented with a wide band of cast and applied grapes and grape leaves. Two small cast scrolled handles of foliate design with bifurcated lower terminals are attached to body with large, stylized wing junctures.
Label TextThree generations of Franco-American silversmiths named Thibault worked in Philadelphia between about 1797 and 1869. This massive sugar urn was made circa 1825, by either Francis Adrian Thibault or his sons: Francis, Frederick, and Felix. The undulating relief grape leaves ornamenting the body reflect the beginnings of the rococo revival style. Its most unusual feature, however, is the milled band of sailing ships encircling its foot.
InscribedEngraved (later?) with modified coat of arms of Carpenter of Barbados, formerly in Ireland and motto: 'Audaces Fortuna Juvat'. Also engraved (later) under foot "E.R.B" in script.
MarkingsMarked in relief twice on base (one strike chattered): "THIBAULT" in a rectangel [slight suggestion of a letter, now cut off, preceding the first T].
ProvenanceClifford Nunn