Collection Highlights
Santa Claus and his Works
Date:
1870
Object Number:
LIB.YC1870.Web
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Soup tureen
Object Number:
1936.20ab
Date:
1855
Medium:
Silver
Dimensions:
Overall: 11 1/2 x 15 1/4 x 9 1/2 in. ( 29.2 x 38.7 x 24.1 cm )
Silver Weight: 82 oz (troy) 17 dwt (2577 g)
Marks:
engraved: in the front center cartouche: "Presented to Commodore/ Matthew Calbraith Perry/ by the Chamber of Commerce and/ Merchants of New York" in script
stamped: on the base: "WM GALE & SON/ NEW YORK" over "W/G/&/S" in an oval over, "1/53/8" in a diam
Description:
Wrought silver soup tureen; ovoid bowl on a ovoid pedestal with applied cast scroll design and four scroll and trefoil feet; bowl incurved to an applied egg and dart rim and vertical bezel; two cast floral strap handles applied at the ends; ovoid lid raised to a low oval dome in the center surmounted by a cast laurel wreath ring handle; repoussé chased foliate and scroll cartouches around the Perry family crest, an anchor on fess below a hind's head, on one side and the inscription, "Presented to Commodore/ Matthew Calbraith Perry/ by the Chamber of Commerce and/ Merchants of New York" in script on the other side; makers' marks stamped on the base.
Gallery Label:
On December 28, 1855, the Chamber of Commerce and Merchants of New York presented Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858) with a 381-piece silver dinner service in acknowledgement of his successful negotiation of a treaty with Japan in 1854. In the letter of presentation the committee remarked, "To have brought this secluded Empire, into the intercourse of nations; is an achievement which may justly be ranked, among the greatest events of the age..."
Credit Line:
Gift of the Honorable Perry Belmont
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
