Images(3)

Hot Water or Coffee Jug

Date1775-1776

Artist/Maker Henry Greenway

OriginEngland, London

MediumSilver (Sterling); gold (silver-gilt); cane

DimensionsH: 13 1/2" (34.3 cm); Diam (base): 5 1/16"(12.9 cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1973-373

Descriptionhot water of coffee jugLabel TextThis jug is an extremely fine example of early neoclassical silver. Its striking visual presence derives not only from its elegant and sophisticated form of classical inspiration, but also from its unusually rich sculptural quality. Bold satyrs' masks and swag-and-scroll-framed paterae provide strong focal points. The sculptural quality, evident in finer early neoclassical silver, dissipated with the increasing reliance on linear engraving during the last quarter of the century. The chasing of the cover, body, and base (the masks and legs and the inset central patera of the base are cast) is superbly executed. Under the sponsorship of James Stuart and Robert Adam, the tripod became emblematic of the classical past, and it was adapted to a variety of domestic articles, especially lighting devices. Notable among these is a set of four candelabra of 1774/75, fashioned by John Carter of London for Sir Watkin Wynn after a design by Robert Adam. John Winter of Sheffield made modified use of the tripod in his candlesticks of about 1774 (CWF accession 1969-246).

Two very similar tripod jugs by Greenway, one of 1776/77 in a private collection and the other of the following year in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, differ mainly from this example in having bands of alternate paterae and husks within beaded moldings at the tops of the lower sections of their bodies with ribbon-tied drapery swags below.
Both are supported on triangular bases with inward-curved sides and squared corners.

The wicker wrapping of the handle is a replacement.Mark(s)Fully marked on face of body below rim to right of handle; lion passant on underside of cover.ProvenancePrivate collector, Scarsdale,New York (sold
at Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 1968
purchased by Hartman Galleries, New York)
de Havilland (Antiques) Ltd., London (purchased from Sotheby & Co.,
London, 1971)
S.]. Phillips Ltd., London