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Water Pitcher, ca. 1868
Meriden Britannia Company (active 1852–98)
American; Made in Meriden, Connecticut
Silver plate; 12 1/2 x 10 1/2 in. (31.8 x 26.7 cm)
Lent by The Meriden Historical Society (L.1985.58.1)
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Description
A silver-plated pitcher for ice water adorns the center table of the Renaissance Revival Parlor. The silver-plate industry, in which Jedediah Wilcox was involved for a short time, thrived in Meriden, Connecticut, through the second half of the nineteenth century. Techniques for electroplating silver and the discovery of great deposits of the ore in the western United States changed the silver industry after the Civil War from small-scale artisanal production catering solely to the very rich to mass production and widespread marketing. The Meriden Britannia Company made the pitcher, which features an Egyptian Revival caryatid handle.
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