Description:
Fused or Sheffield silver-plated oblong urn, often called a tea or hot water urn, with an elaborate raised band of berries and leaves around the mid-body, two similarly-decorated die-stamped handles, scrolled lever handle and silver-plated brass spigot, and removable burner (replacement). The donor, Captain Edgar Miller Williams (1889-1986), was the son of Admiral Clarence Stewart Williams (1863-1951) who married Anna M. Miller (1860-1955), the daughter of Dr. J. M. Miller of Springfield, Ohio, in 1888; his grandfather was Orson Bennet Williams (1834-1912), who was born in Ashfield and married Pamelia L. Floyd of Springfield, Ohio, in 1862; his great-grandfather was Samuel Barnard Williams (1803-1884) of Deerfield who married Mary A. Bennet (d.1839) of Ashfield, Massachusetts, in 1834, and Caroline Johnson (d.1885) in 1844; his great-great grandfather was Elijah Williams (1767-1832) who married Hannah Barnard (1772-1853), daughter of Samuel Barnard (1721-1788) of Deerfield, in 1803; and his great-great-great grandfather was Dr. Thomas Williams (1718-1775) of Deerfield. This branch of the Williams family is also related to Elizabeth Williams Champney (1850-1922), a well-known writer of her period, who was the half-sister of Orson Bennet Williams and the wife of the artist, James Wells Champney (1843-1903). These urns, which supplanted the teakettle and spirit lamp in teamaking the last quarter of the 18th century, were used to refill the teapot with hot water without calling a servant in. They were made in Sheffield plate from the 1760s, about the same time that they appeared in silver. 18th century examples were normally small, usually no more than 18" high; by the end of the century, more ostentatious designs were introduced, which echoed fashionable teapot shapes. Simple scroll handles were replaced with die-stamped handles with flowers and foliage or lions' masks with ring drop handles, and the shell-carved ivory taps were often surrounded by swags of acanthus leaves. Originally, most were designed to keep the contents hot with a "box iron", a heated iron ingot inserted inside an internal waterproof cylindrical holder; later many were heated with oil lamps mounted on their bases, with their bodies raised above on applied lions' paw or shaped foliate supports such as on this piece. This urn has a removable, stepped domed cover with a foliate-decorated finial; over a flattened bulbous body; over a round base.
Subjects:
Copper; Brass Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+79.083 |
