Sugar bowl, 1760–75
John Bayly (American, active 1750–90)
Silver
Technical Glossary
John Bayly (American, active 1750–90)
Silver
Overall: 5 1/4 x 5 3/4 in., 377.9 grams (13.3 x 14.6 cm, 12.15 troy ounces); Diam. of foot: 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1939 (39.23a,b)
Sugar bowls, usually with covers, became an essential part of the tea equipage in the eighteenth century, when sugar became more readily available. By the 1760s, they were being fashioned in the inverted pear or "double-bellied" form popular with Rococo designers. Here, emphatic curves and rich floral decoration reflect the extravagance of fully developed Rococo styling. The cast bird finial, although somewhat unusual, is found on other sugar bowls of this period made in Philadelphia and New York.
