MORRISON HECKSCHER: The opulent Bryant vase was the first piece of American silver to enter the Museum’s collection, in 1877.

BETH WEES: And, at the time, it would have been a brand-new piece of silver. It would have been modern art.

MORRISON HECKSCHER: Curator Beth Wees.

BETH WEES: It was made in 1875-1876 for presentation to the poet and newspaper editor William Cullen Bryant. And it was commissioned on the event of his eightieth birthday by a group of his friends.

MORRISON HECKSCHER: The Greek-shaped vase is tour-de-force of chasing, which is sculpting the silver with small steel tools. All the ornamental motifs are symbolic. American flora, such as apple blossoms, cover the entire vase. And oval Renaissance revival medallions show scenes from Bryant’s life and work – such as an image of him writing in his library.

BETH WEES: There's also a wonderful, rather classical portrait of him on the front wearing a sort of Greek robe and with his great wooly beard.

MORRISON HECKSCHER: It’s very difficult to see, but under Bryant’s shoulder is the monogram “EJS” of the man who chased the vase.

BETH WEES: So we know a great deal about this. We know who designed it. We know who chased it. We know that five of the medallions were designed by the great American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. So there's a great artistic, as well as literary, component to this vase.

MORRISON HECKSCHER: And inlaid around the neck of the vase is one of Bryant’s most famous verses, which says: "Truth crushed to earth shall rise again."