Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History


    • Teapot, 1745–55
    Josiah Austin (American, 1719/20–ca. 1780)
    Silver

    Overall: 5 5/8 x 8 3/4 x 4 5/16 in., 519.6 grams (14.3 x 22.2 x 11 cm, 16.706 troy ounces); Diam. of foot: 3 7/16 in. (8.7 cm)
    Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, 1924 (24.109.7)

    By the mid-eighteenth century, American silversmiths were making teapots in this stylized apple shape with inset cover and cast curvilinear spout. This handsome example, marked by the Charlestown, Massachusetts, silversmith Josiah Austin, is engraved with the coat of arms and crest of the Ware family. The arms are surrounded by a lively Rococo cartouche of scrolls, shells, and foliage. The engraving around the shoulder, however, is more contained and symmetrical, with alternating shells, diaperwork, and oval reserves typical of a slightly earlier date.

    Related


    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Safford, Frances Gruber. "Colonial Silver: In The American Wing." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 41, no. 1 (Summer, 1983).
    JSTOR | PDF | Supplemental PDFs
    • "Director's Note" PDF
    • On view: Gallery 750
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    • Teapot, 1745–55
    Josiah Austin (American, 1719/20–ca. 1780)
    Silver

    Overall: 5 5/8 x 8 3/4 x 4 5/16 in., 519.6 grams (14.3 x 22.2 x 11 cm, 16.706 troy ounces); Diam. of foot: 3 7/16 in. (8.7 cm)
    Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, 1924 (24.109.7)


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