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Cream jug
Smith, Benjamin - Enlarge image
Cream jug
- Place of origin:
London, England (made)
- Date:
1840-1841 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Smith, Benjamin (III) (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Silver gilt, cast and chased
- Museum number:
CIRC.119-1960
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 122g, case 6
Object Type
This small jug for serving milk or cream could have been purchased on its own to add glamour to the tea or dinner table. Alternatively, it may once have been part of a set of silver tea equipment which normally consisted of a teapot, a coffee pot, a cream jug and a sugar basin.
Time
Although based upon 18th-century Rococo design, as in the scroll and shell ornament, the style of this jug demonstrates the 19th century's preference for bulging, curved sinuous forms. In terms of sheer quantity of production the Rococo Revival was the most popular 19th-century style, particularly in commercial silver. It was the earliest of the stylistic revivals and from its first emergence in the 1820s and 1830s its inspiration was drawn largely from France.
Manufacturer
The jug was made by the inventive silversmith, Benjamin Smith lll. He came from a silversmithing background and during his career worked on pioneering projects such as the Summerley's Art Manufacturers design reform venture organised by Henry Cole, the first Director of the V&A.
