Images(4)

D2013-CMD. Sugar, underside to show mark and engraving

Sugar Dish and Lid

Date1825-1840

Marked by Thomas McCowat (Working ca. 1811-1853)

OriginAmerica, Tennessee, Jackson or Nashville

MediumSilver

DimensionsOH: 9 1/4 inches

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2013-112,A&B

DescriptionSilver sugar dish and lid: circular stepped foot with fine bands of beading at rim and neck supports an urn-shaped body with fine bands of beading at shoulder and rim. Domed lid with acorn-shaped finial with fine band of beading. Two horizontal loop handles with oval bead at center flanked by leaves are joined to body by stamped acorn and leaf junctures.
Label TextThe first advertisement for a Tennessee silversmith appeared in 1792, but production would focus on flatware and tumblers for the next several decades. Only a few examples of more complex hollowware are known before the 1840s. As in other parts of America, silver in Tennessee was sometimes imported and then stuck with a local retailer’s mark. Many of Tennessee’s earliest silversmiths hailed from the Chesapeake and were drawn to the state by its growing demand for luxury goods. Virginian Thomas McCowat worked in his home state and in Kentucky before moving to Nashville in Middle Tennessee by 1823. He relocated to the West Tennessee town of Jackson by 1838. McCowat also repaired watches and sold patent medicines.

InscribedEngraved on side of body in shaded and sprigged script "AB". Engraved in script inside of footring "H"
MarkingsMarked in relief in a rectangle on base of body (inside of foot): "McCOWAT." Note: the second "c" is superscript, underlined, and over a pellet. The period after the "T" is faint

Exhibition(s)