Pitcher

Maker: Tiffany and Company, New York, New York, founded 1837
Date: c.1878–80
Material: Silver and copper with gilding
made in: New York, New York, United States, North and Central America
Classification: Metalwork
Collection: Decorative Arts and Design
Current Location: On View, Gallery 127
Dimensions: 8 13/16 x 7 1/2 x 5 3/8 in. (22.4 x 19.1 x 13.7 cm)
Credit Line: Marjorie Wyman Endowment Fund, the Richard Brumbaugh Trust in memory of Richard Irving Brumbaugh and Grace Lischer Brumbaugh, the Gary Wolff Family; and Museum Shop Fund, gift of Dr. and Mrs. Graham T. Lusk, Mr. and Mrs. Harvard Hecker, Mrs. Thomas T. Hoopes, Olivia Vogel, and Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Goodman, bequest of Richard Brumbaugh, and Museum Purchase, by exchange
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 6:2010

NOTES

This object demonstrates that Asian art was an important source of inspiration for artists and designers in Europe and America in the late 19th century. Japanese woodblock prints and lacquer provided motifs such as the irises, carp, and dragonflies that ornament this silver water pitcher. Its dimpled surface is meant to suggest traditional Japanese metalwork.

Provenance

Private collection, purchased from Tiffany and Company; and family, by inheritance [1]

1977 -
Private collection, acquired from a private collector [2]

2009 - 2010
Lillian Nassau LLC, New York, NY, representing private collector

2010 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased from Lillian Nassau LLC [3]

Notes:
[1] Per notes of a telephone conversation in February 2010 between SLAM curator David Conradsen and Arlie Sulka of Lillian Nassau LLC [SLAM document files].

[2] See note [1].

[3] Per invoice dated February 24, 2010 [SLAM document files]; Minutes of the Collections Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, February 23, 2010.

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We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.