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Sugar Bowl and Cover thumbnail 2
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Sugar Bowl and Cover

1750-51 (hallmarked)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This pot is part of a set formed of two tea caddies and a sugar bowl. Tea drinking was a fashionable activity throughout the eighteenth century. Brought to the tea table in the drawing room, the lady of the house would have handled objects like these herself when serving friends. This set's rococo ornament, veering from the naturalistic to the fantastical, demonstrates how changing tastes took centre stage at the table in both senses of the word.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.


Object details

Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Bowl
  • Lid
Materials and techniques
Raised, cast and chased silver
Brief description
Sugar bowl and cover. Tea caddy set, silver with mahogany case, William Cripps, 1750.
Physical description
Sugar bowl from George II caddy set, in the Rococo style with butterflies as knobs for the lids and sea serpents around the caddies' bases; with original case.
Dimensions
  • Height: 5.6875in
  • Width: 4.375in
Gallery label
13. Tea caddy and sugar bowls 1750 London, England, William Cripps (died 1767) Silver Museum nos. Loan:Gilbert.678 to 680-2008(16/11/2016)
Credit line
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Object history
Provenance: Sophie Wenman (d.1787). The Hon. Sophia Wenman, wife of William Humphrey Wykeham, Esq., of Swalcliffe. Aubrey Wykeham, Esq., of Tythrop House, Thame. Anonymous sale: Sotheby's, lot 132a, 06/06/1933. Hancocks, July 1996.
Summary
This pot is part of a set formed of two tea caddies and a sugar bowl. Tea drinking was a fashionable activity throughout the eighteenth century. Brought to the tea table in the drawing room, the lady of the house would have handled objects like these herself when serving friends. This set's rococo ornament, veering from the naturalistic to the fantastical, demonstrates how changing tastes took centre stage at the table in both senses of the word.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.
Associated objects
Other numbers
  • SG 323 - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • SG 122B - Arthur Gilbert Number
  • 1996.907 - The Gilbert Collection, Somerset House
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:GILBERT.678:1-2008

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Record createdJune 26, 2008
Record URL
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