The Morning Glory pattern was patented in 1871, during the 1868 – 1877 tenure of Paris-trained Thomas Pairpoint as Gorham’s head designer. Although an example of Gorham’s production work and a traditional form in silver flatware, this ladle illustrates the nineteenth-century drive to domesticate nature. The vining morning glory grew wild but was commonly trained to climb a fence or trellis in a household garden. On this utensil, silver replicas of the flower are brought indoors to embellish the table of a dining room, where an oak or mahogany sideboard may have also been decorated with realistically carved game, fish, or other fauna or flora.

This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.

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