Advanced Search 
Teapot (from a six-piece tea service)
about 1835
Object Place: Possibly Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Medium/Technique
Silver
Dimensions
21 x 22.8 x 12 cm (8 1/4 x 9 x 4 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Anonymous gift in honor of Eugenia Cassatt Madeira
Accession Number1982.359
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAmericas
ClassificationsSilver hollowware
This assembled tea set is a fine representation of early-nineteenth-century Philadelphia silver by Philip Garrett, the partnership of Robert and William Wilson, and possibly an unidentified maker. It has gained added attention due to its association with the family of Mary Stevenson Cassatt, the famous American artist. Initially made for the artist’s grandmother, and presumably added to by her mother, the tea set became a treasured family heirloom. Two of the objects — the sugar bowl and a teapot — appear in The Tea, painted about 1879 – 80 and now in the Museum’s collection (fig. 5), as well as in works on paper by the artist.
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.
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.
DescriptionThis is a raised vessel, rectangular in section. It has a rounded rectangular base with a stamped base molding in a repeating flower pattern, with one step rising to stamped gadrooned neck and bulbous rectangular bowl. A rose pattern molding surrounds the vessel, to which the upper handle section is attached. The body rises upward to a rectangular lid with a squared top, cut-card applied decoration, and finial. The lid has a five-part hinge; the seamed handle is rectangular in section and fitted with pinned ivory insulators. The spout terminates in a chased eagle’s head; strainer holes are within.
Marks
Unmarked
InscriptionsEngraved in script on side of vessel to right of handle "M S/ 1813 / K K J"
ProvenanceAbout 1835, Katharine Kelso Johnston Cassatt (b. 1816 – d. 1895), Pittsburgh [see note 1]; to her daughter, Mary Stevenson Cassatt (b. 1844 – d. 1926), Paris; until 1982, by descent within the family; 1982, anonymous gift to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 9, 1982)
NOTES:
[1] Around the time of her marriage to Robert Simpson Cassatt in 1835, Katharine Kelso Johnston added two silver teapots and a waste bowl, including the present piece, to her mother’s tea set of about 1813. She had pieces in the set engraved with her initials.
NOTES:
[1] Around the time of her marriage to Robert Simpson Cassatt in 1835, Katharine Kelso Johnston added two silver teapots and a waste bowl, including the present piece, to her mother’s tea set of about 1813. She had pieces in the set engraved with her initials.