Traveling set with glass beaker in case

1777–79

Not on view

Some members of Central and Southeastern European sovereign dynasties never traveled without their cutlery set. This seemed a strange habit to French courtiers, who, during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, shared their knives at table. However, in a time when a little deadly arsenic would go a long way if mixed with one’s salt or spices, the Hungarian aristocracy had reason for their precaution; poisonings, especially by arsenic mixed with salt or spices, were not uncommon.

Artwork Details

Object Information

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Exhibition History

Title: Traveling set with glass beaker in case
Maker: Samuel Bardet (German, ca. 1719 –1800, master in 1759)
Date: 1777–79
Culture: German, Augsburg
Medium: Gilded silver, steel, glass, dyed and gold-tooled leather, velvet
Dimensions: Length (Fork [a]): 7 7/8 in. (20 cm);
Length (Knife [b]): 9 9/16 in. (24.3 cm);
Length (Spoon [c]): 8 1/4 in. (21 cm);
Length (Marrow spoon [d]): 6 3/16 in. (15.7 cm);
Length (Two-prong fork [e]): 9 1/8 in. (23.2 cm);
Overall (Spice box [f]): 1 1/4 × 2 15/16 × 2 3/16 in. (3.2 × 7.5 × 5.6 cm);
Overall (Egg cup [g]): 1 1/2 × 2 3/8 × 1 3/8 in. (3.8 × 6 × 3.5 cm);
Height (Beaker with lid [h, i]): 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm);
Overall (Box [j]): 2 3/4 × 10 1/8 × 7 7/8 in. (7 × 25.7 × 20 cm)
Classification: Metalwork-Silver
Credit Line: Gift of The Salgo Trust for Education, New York, in memory of Nicolas M. Salgo, 2010
Object Number: 2010.110.77a–j
Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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