Pitcher (Cream or milk pitcher or pot)

Description

These four elements for a neoclassical or Federal style tea set express the taste for classical urns and vases from the tiny finials on the teapot and sugar bowl to the invaerted "helmet" shape cream pitcher. Silversmiths of this era redesigned familiar vessels for tea and coffee into new shapes using rigorous geometry and proportions borrowed from classical antiquity. The fashion for vases and urns was captured elegantly by Quaker silversmith Jesse Zane for a patron who's name is yet to be discovered. The engraved initials on the tea set are overly large and were created carefully by first setting in dots or gouges to outline the letters. Some of the engraving detail has been lost with years of polishing, but traces of this process remain, adding texture to the initials.