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Basin

ca. 1750–60
Not on view
The unusually strong curvilinear outline of this basin may suggest that it was once part of a toilet service and intended for use either as a shaving bowl or for hairdressing.



The armorial engraved in the well is similar to that on a silver ewer also from the Wentworth collection (48.187.140), made by the same unidentified silversmith, (I.P) possibly in Avignon.



Daughter of one of the founders of the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, Catherine D. Wentworth (1865–1948) was an art student and painter who lived in France for thirty years. She became one of the most important American collectors of eighteenth-century French silver and on her death in 1948 bequeathed part of her significant collection of silver, gold boxes, French furniture and textiles to the Metropolitan Museum. The collection is particularly strong in domestic silver, much of it provincial, and includes a number of rare early pieces.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Basin
  • Maker: I.P.
  • Date: ca. 1750–60
  • Culture: French, possibly Avignon
  • Medium: Silver
  • Dimensions: Overall: 2 5/16 × 11 × 15 1/8 in. (5.9 × 27.9 × 38.4 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork-Silver
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Catherine D. Wentworth, 1948
  • Object Number: 48.187.141
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
More Artwork
Ewer, I.P., Silver, French, possibly Avignon
I.P.
ca. 1740–50
Soap and sponge boxes, C. Louis Gérard, Silver, French, Douai (Lille Mint)
Marked by C. Louis Gérard
ca. 1739
Plate from "La Voye de Laict ou le Chemin des Heros à l'entrée de Louis XIV en la Cité d'Avignon le 16 Novembre 1622", Thomas de Berton  French, Etching
Author Thomas de Berton
Designer Luigi Palma
1623
Basin, Samuel Margas Jr.  British, Silver gilt, British, London
Samuel Margas Jr.
ca. 1721
Guitar, Jean-Baptiste Voboam  French, Spruce, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, ebony, French
attributed to Jean-Baptiste Voboam
1697

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