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Sugar bowl and spoons

Silversmith Bendix Gijsen Danish
1804
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 553
This sugar bowl is notable for its striking originality. The globe-shaped bowl is opened by pressing the compass finial, which causes the top half of the globe to retract. The columnar base is fitted with slots to hold spoons. The prevailing Neoclassical taste is reflected in the swags of grapevines and Mercury heads that encircle the bottom of the globe as well as in the truncated column base. However, the absence of unnecessary ornamentation and the sense of monumentality create an unusually "modern" object.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Sugar bowl and spoons
  • Silversmith: Bendix Gijsen (Danish, 1765–1822)
  • Date: 1804
  • Culture: Danish, Copenhagen
  • Medium: Silver, partly gilt
  • Dimensions: Overall: 13 3/8 x 4 5/8in. (34 x 11.7cm); Length (spoons): 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Silver
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts, 1991
  • Object Number: 1991.242a–m
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

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