chapter X

.

There are illustrated other silver coffee pots in the Victoria and Albert Museum, by Folkingham (1715-16), and by Wastell (1720-21), the latter pot being octagonal.

There is illustrated also a design in tiles that were let into the wall of an ancient coffee house in Brick Lane, Spitalfields, known as the "Dish of Coffee Boy" in the catalog of the collection of London antiquities in the Guildhall Museum. Mr. Ellis thinks this belongs to a period a little earlier, but certainly not later, than 1692; the coffee pot represented being exactly of the lantern shape. It is an oblong sign of glazed Delft tiles, decorated in blue, brown, and yellow, representing a youth pouring coffee. Upon a table, by his side, are a gazette, two pipes, a bowl, a bottle, and a mug; above, on a scroll, is, "dish of coffee boy."

[Illustration: "DISH OF COFFEE BOY" DESIGN IN DELFT TILES 1692]

Modifications of the lantern began to appear with great rapidity in England. In the coffee pot of Chinese porcelain, illustrated, probably made in China from an English model a few years later than the 1692 pot, Mr. Ellis observes that "the spout has already lost its straightness, the extreme taper of the body is diminished, and the lid betrays the first tendency to depart from the straightness of the cone to the curved outline of the dome." He adds:

These variations rapidly intensified, and at the commencement of the eighteenth century we find the body still less tapering and the lid has become a perfect dome. As we approach the end of Queen Anne's reign the thumb piece disappears and the handle is no longer set on at right angles to the spout. Through the reign of George I but little modification took place, save that the taper of the body became less and less. In the Second George's time we find the taper has almost entirely disappeared, so that the sides are nearly parallel, while the dome of the lid has been flattened down to a very low elevation above the rim. In the second quarter of the eighteenth century the pear shaped coffee pot was the vogue. In the earlier years of George III, when many new and beautiful designs in silversmiths' work were created, a complete revolution in coffee-pots takes place, and the flowing outlines of the new pattern recall the form of the Turkish ewer, which had been discarded nearly one hundred years previously.

[Illustration: CHINESE PORCELAIN COFFEE POT

Late seventeenth century]

The evolution is shown by illustrations of Lord Swaythling's pot of 1731; the coffee jug of 1736; the Vincent pot of 1738; the Viscountess Wolseley's coffee pot of copper plated with silver; the Irish coffee pot of 1760; and the silver coffee pots of 1773-76 and of 1779-80 (see illustrations on pages 604, 605 and 607).

[Illustration: Vincent Pot, Hall-marked, London, 1738

Lord Swaythling's Pot, 1731

SILVER COFFEE POTS, EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

From Jackson's "Illustrated History of English Plate"]

There are illustrated in this connection specimens of coffee pots in stoneware by Elers (1700), and in salt glaze by Astbury, and another of the period about 1725. These are in the department of British and medieval antiquities of the British Museum, where are to be seen also some beautiful specimens of coffee-service pots in Whieldon ware, and in Wedgwood's jasper ware.

[Illustration: IRISH COFFEE POT, 1760

Hall-marked Dublin; the property of Col. Moore-Brabazon]

[Illustration: VISCOUNTESS WOLSELEY'S COFFEE POT]

[Illustration: A SCOFIELD POT OF 1779-80]

[Illustration: COFFEE JUG, 1736]

[Illustration: SILVER COFFEE POTS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY]

[Illustration: SALT-GLAZE POT

By John Astbury]

[Illustration: ELERS WARE COFFEE POT

Stoneware, about 1700]

[Illustration: SALT-GLAZE POT

About 1725]

[Illustration: POTS IN POTTERY AND PORCELAIN 18TH TO 20TH CENTURIES

1--Staffordshire; 2--English, eighteen to twentieth centuries; 3--English, blue printed ware, eighteenth to nineteenth centuries; 4--Leeds, 1760-1790; 5--Staffordshire, nineteenth to twentieth centuries]

Illustrated, too, are some beautiful examples of the art of the potter, applied to coffee service, as found in the Metropolitan Museum, where they have been brought from many countries. Included are Leeds and Staffordshire examples of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries; a Sino-Lowestoft pot of the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries; an Italian (_capodimonte_) pot of the eighteenth century; German pots of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; a Vienna coffee pot of the eighteenth century; a French (_La Seine_) coffee pot of 1774-1793, a Sèvres pot of 1792-1804; and a Spanish eighteenth-century coffee pot decorated in copper luster.

At the Metropolitan may be seen also Hatfield and Sheffield-plate pots of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and many examples of silver tea and coffee service and coffee pots by American silversmiths.

[Illustration: SILVER COFFEE POTS, LATE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

Left, 1776-77. Right, 1773-4.]

Silver tea pots and coffee pots were few in America before the middle of the eighteenth century. Early coffee-pot examples were tapering and cylindrical in form, and later matched the tea pots with swelling drums, molded bases, decorated spouts, and molded lids with finials.

From notes by R.T. Haines Halsey and John H. Buck, collected by Florence N. Levy and woven into an introduction to the Metropolitan Museum's art exhibition catalog for the Hudson-Fulton celebration of 1909, we learn that:

The first silver made in New England was probably fashioned by English or Scotch emigrants who had served their time abroad. They were followed by craftsmen who were either born here, or, like John Hull, arriving at an early age, learned their trade on this side.

In England it was required that every master goldsmith should have his mark and set it upon his work after it was assayed and marked with the king's mark (hall-mark) testifying to the fineness of the metal.

[Illustration: Sino-Lowestoft, Eighteenth To Nineteenth Centuries]

[Illustration: ITALIAN CAPODIMONTE, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY]

[Illustration: LA SEINE, 1774

SÈVRES, 1792

GERMAN POTS, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY]

[Illustration: PORCELAIN POTS IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, NEW YORK]

The Colonial silversmiths marked their wares with their initials, with or without emblems, placed in shields, circles, etc., without any guide as to place of manufacture or date. After about 1725 it was the custom to use the surname, with or without an initial, and sometimes the full name. Since the establishment of the United States the name of the town was often added and also the letters D or C in a circle, probably meaning dollar or coin, showing the standard or coin from which the wares were made.

In the New York colony there were evolved silver tea pots of a unique design, that was not used elsewhere in the colonies. Mr. Halsey says they were used indiscriminately for both tea and coffee. In style they followed, to a certain extent, the squat pear-shaped tea pots of the period of 1717-18 in England, but had greater height and capacity.

The colonial silversmiths wrought many beautiful designs in coffee, tea, and chocolate pots. Fine specimens are to be seen in the Halsey and Clearwater loan collections in the Metropolitan Museum. Included in the Clearwater collection is a coffee pot by Pygan Adams (1712-1776); and recently, there was added a coffee pot by Ephraim Brasher, whose name appears in the _New York City Directory_ from 1786 to 1805. He was a member of the Gold and Silversmiths' Society, and he made the die for the famous gold doubloon, known by his name, a specimen of which recently sold in Philadelphia for $4,000. His brother, Abraham Brasher, who was an officer in the continental army, wrote many popular ballads of the Revolutionary period, and was a constant contributor to the newspapers.

[Illustration: VIENNA COFFEE POT, 1830

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art]

[Illustration: SPANISH COFFEE POT, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

In the Metropolitan Museum]

Judge Clearwater's collection of colonial silver in the Metropolitan Museum, to which he is constantly adding, is a magnificent one; and the coffee pot is worthy of it. It is thirteen and one-half inches high, weighs forty-four ounces, exclusive of the ebony handle, has a curved body and splayed base, with a godrooned band to the base and a similar edge to the cover. The spout is elaborate and curved; the cover has an urn-shaped finial; and there is a decoration of an engraved medallion surrounded by a wreath with a ribbon forming a true lover's knot.

[Illustration:

By Samuel Minott By Charles Hatfield By Pygan Adams Halsey Collection Metropolitan Museum of Art Clearwater Collection

]

[Illustration:

London Pot, 1773-74 By Jacob Hurd By Paul Revere FROM FRANCIS HILL BIGELOW'S "HISTORIC SILVER OF THE COLONIES"

]

[Illustration: ENGLISH SHEFFIELD PLATE COFFEE POTS AND COFFEE URN, EIGHTEENTH CENTURY]

[Illustration: SILVER COFFEE POTS IN AMERICAN COLLECTIONS]

[Illustration: COFFEE POT BY WM. SHAW AND WM. PRIEST

Made for Peter Faneuil (about 1751-52), who gave to Boston Faneuil Hall, called the cradle of American liberty]

[Illustration: POT OF SHEFFIELD PLATE, 18TH CENTURY

In the Metropolitan Museum]

[Illustration: SILVER POT BY EPHRAIM BRASHER

In the Clearwater Collection, Metropolitan Museum]

In the Halsey collection is shown a silver coffee pot by Samuel Minott, and several beautiful specimens of the handiwork of Paul Revere, whose name is more often connected with the famous "midnight ride" than with the art of the silversmith. Of all the American silversmiths, Paul Revere was the most interesting. Not only was he a silversmith of renown, but a patriot, soldier, grand master Mason, confidential agent of the state of Massachusetts Bay, engraver, picture-frame designer, and die-sinker. He was born in Boston in 1735, and died in 1818. He was the most famous of all the Boston silversmiths, although he is more widely known as a patriot. He was the third of a family of twelve children, and early entered his father's shop. When only nineteen, his father died; but he was able to carry on the business. The engraving on his silver bears witness to his ability. He engraved also on copper, and made many political cartoons. He joined the expedition against the French at Crown Point, and in the war of the Revolution was a lieutenant-colonel of artillery. After the close of the war, he resumed his business of a goldsmith and silversmith in 1783. Decidedly a man of action, he well played many parts; and in all his manifold undertakings achieved brilliant success. There clings, therefore, to the articles of silver made by him an element of romantic and patriotic association which endears them to those who possess them.

[Illustration: FRENCH SILVER COFFEE POT

Grand Prize, Union Centrale, 1886.]

Revere had a real talent that enabled him to impart an unwonted elegance to his work, and he was famous as an engraver of the beautiful crests, armorial designs, and floral wreaths that adorn much of his work. His tea pots and coffee pots are unusually beautiful.

Revere coffee pots are to be seen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts as well as in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has also a coffee pot made by William Shaw and William Priest in 1751-52 for Peter Faneuil, the wealthiest Bostonian of his time, who gave to Boston Faneuil Hall, New England's cradle of American liberty.

Among other American silversmiths who produced striking designs in coffee pots, mention should be made of G. Aiken (1815); Garrett Eoff (New York, 1785-1850); Charles Faris (who worked in Boston about 1790); Jacob Hurd (1702-1758, known in Boston as Captain Hurd); John McMullin (mentioned in the Philadelphia _Directory_ for 1796); James Musgrave (mentioned in Philadelphia directories of 1797, 1808, and 1811); Myer Myers (admitted as freeman, New York, 1746; active until 1790; president of the New York Silversmiths Society, 1786); and Anthony Rasch (who is known to have worked in Philadelphia, 1815).

In the museums of the many historical societies throughout the United States are to be seen interesting specimens of coffee pots in pewter, Britannia metal, and tin ware, as well as in pottery, porcelain, and silver. Some of these are illustrated.

[Illustration: THE GREEN DRAGON TAVERN COFFEE URN]

As in other branches of art during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the United States were indebted to England, Holland, and France for much of the early pottery and porcelain. Elers, Astbury, Whieldon, Wedgwood, their imitators, and the later Staffordshire potters, flooded the American market with their wares. Porcelain was not made in this country previous to the nineteenth century. Decorative pottery was made here, however, from an early period. Britannia ware began to take the place of pewter in 1825; and the introduction of japanned tin ware and pottery gradually caused the manufacture of pewter to be abandoned.

[Illustration:

By an unknown silversmith By Paul Revere By Paul Revere

COFFEE POTS BY AMERICAN SILVERSMITHS]

[Illustration: TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN COFFEE SERVICE

The Portsmouth Pattern, by the Gorham Co.]

An interesting relic is in the collection of the Bostonian Society. It is a coffee urn of Sheffield ware, formerly in the Green Dragon tavern, which stood on Union Street from 1697 to 1832, and was a famous meeting place of the patriots of the Revolution. It is globular in form, and rests on a base; and inside is still to be seen the cylindrical piece of iron which, when heated, kept the delectable liquid contents of the urn hot until imbibed by the frequenters of the tavern. The iron bar was set in a zinc or tin jacket to keep such fireplace ashes as still clung to it from coming in contact with the coffee, which was probably brewed in a stew kettle before being poured into the urn for serving. The Green Dragon tavern site, now occupied by a business structure, is owned by the St. Andrew's Lodge of Freemasons of Boston; and at a recent gathering of the lodge on St. Andrew's Day, the urn was exhibited to the assembled brethren.

When the contents of the tavern were sold, the urn was bought by Mrs. Elizabeth Harrington, who then kept a famous boarding-house on Pearl Street, in a building owned by the Quincy family. The house was razed in 1847, and was replaced by the Quincy Block; and Mrs. Harrington removed to High Street, and from there to Chauncey Place. Some of the prominent men of Boston boarded with her for many years. At her death, the urn was given to her daughter, Mrs. John R. Bradford. It was presented to the society by Miss Phebe C. Bradford, of Boston, granddaughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Harrington.

A somewhat similar urn, made of pewter, is in the Museum of the Maine Historical Society of Portland, Me.; another in the Museum of the Essex Institute at Salem, Mass.

Among the many treasured relics of Abraham Lincoln is an old Britannia coffee pot from which he was regularly served while a boarder with the Rutledge family at the Rutledge inn in New Salem (now Menard), Ill. It was a valued utensil, and Lincoln is said to have been very fond of it. It is illustrated on page 690.

The pot is now the property of the Old Salem Lincoln League, of Petersburg, Ill., and was donated to it, with other relics, by Mrs. Saunders, of Sisquoc, Cal., the only surviving child of James and Mary Ann Rutledge. Mrs. Rutledge carefully preserved this and other relics of New Salem days; and shortly before her death in 1878, she gave them into the keeping of her daughter, Mrs. Saunders, advising her to preserve them until such time as a permanent home for them would be provided by a grateful people back at New Salem, where they were associated with the immortal Lincoln and his tragic romance with her daughter Ann.

[Illustration: TURKISH COFFEE SET, PETER COLLECTION, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, WASHINGTON]

##