Dish ring

Unidentified Dublin maker W. H.

1777

Not on view

This dish ring is a refined example of an emblematic Irish form. Such rings were used on the dining table as a base for a larger bowl or plate that was laden with beautifully arranged food; as a seventeenth-century writer explained “to make the feast look full and noble.” A series of rings of different heights made for a prosperous but not necessarily an aristocratic table, it does not have engraved eighteenth century armorials; the initials AR were likely engraved in the 19th century. Nonetheless, the piece beautifully represents Ireland’s embrace of the Neoclassical architectural vocabulary and the austerity and simplicity with which it was expressed in silver.

[Ellenor M. Alcorn, 2014]

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Dish ring
Maker: Unidentified Dublin maker W. H.
Date: 1777
Culture: Irish
Medium: Silver
Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 3 7/8 × 8 1/8 × 8 1/8 in. (9.8 × 20.6 × 20.6 cm)
Classification: Metalwork-Silver
Credit Line: Purchase, The Isaacson-Draper Foundation Gift, in memory of Hazel Draper, 2014
Object Number: 2014.759
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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Miniature kettle with stand, W. H., Silver, wicker, British, London — Miniature kettle with stand
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Creamer, W. H. American, Silver, American — Creamer
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