AFA Summer 2020

2020 Antiques & Fine Art 87 Hot water urn, Sheffield or Birmingham, England, ca. 1800. Fused silver plate and ivory. Gift of Mrs. Eugene B. Simonin (1973-371). By the turn of the nineteenth century, hot water urns for use in preparing tea had become among the largest and most prevalent forms of Sheffield plate or fused silver plate made in the English production centers of Sheffield and Birmingham. More richly embellished than most examples, this neoclassical urn is chased with gadrooning, swags, and rams’ heads—design elements adopted by architects, furniture makers, and metalsmiths alike to reflect the popular Adam style. Not surprisingly, fused silver plated items were enthusiastically embraced in early America, but few pieces survive with histories of ownership. This example has a tradition of descent in the Carter, Stanard, Nicholas, Buffington, and Simonin families of Virginia.