Tureen

Description

William Forbes was an accomplished and influential manufacturing silversmith who worked independently and for other retailers, particularly Ball, Black & Company (Henry Ball, Erastus Tompkins, and William Black until 1851), the then-premier jewelry and silver firm in New York. The higher standard of silver marked on the underside of this tureen was used by Ball, Black & Company between 1858 and 1860 as well as sometimes by Tiffany & Company during the mid-century. Several New York silver manufacturers of this era provided silver tureens ornamented with figures associated with hunting and sporting trophies animals such as deer, elk, mountain sheep, rams, and even bulls. Tureens with this overall design but varied die-rolled borders include a fully engraved tureen in the Bayou Bend collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (B96.22),