Bowl (Slop or waste bowl)

Description

Once considered an essential part of any tea set, the waste or slop bowl received any cold liquid or dregs from the bottom of a cup before it was refilled. Although this waste bowl has been separated from the rest of its original set, its design and attention to detail pay homage to both the skill of its maker and the tastes of nineteenth-century Americans. The precisely shaped body has twelve equal lobes chased into the circular bowl and has three different die-rolled borders ornamenting the body and base. The separately produced (or even purchased wholesale) die-rolled bands are integral to the bowl's upper edge and foot, soldered along their lengths, and exhibit early modernization within the silversmithing profession. Such border designs with leafy grape vines or standing sheaves of wheat appear with some frequency on New York silver, where William Thomson created fashionable flatware and entire tea sets. His silver found favor in the New York City market and he shipped finished items to patrons in the American south, finding customers further afield.