Epergne

1764/65

An epergne is a tiered centerpiece fitted with often-interchangeable baskets, dishes, and candleholders. This elaborate example would have provided a dramatic and lively decoration for a dining table. No crest or coat of arms exists to identify the original owner, but in the early twentieth century it belonged to famed American banker and financier J. Pierpont Morgan. The gilding on this object was a later addition; its thick application and yellow color are more consistent with Victorian taste than that of the eighteenth century.

Medium	silver gilt
Dimensions	25 11/16 x 29 3/4 x 28 3/16 in. (65.2 x 75.6 x 71.5 cm) Troy weight: 303.5 toz (9439.8 g) Scratch weight (298 x 3): 298.15 toz (9273.5 g)
Object Number	1955.157
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	Off View

Image Caption

Thomas Pitts I, Epergne, 1764/65, silver gilt. Clark Art Institute, 1955.157

Select Bibliography

Robert Sterling Clark Art Institute. Robert Sterling Clark Art Institute Presents an Exhibition of Silver of the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Robert Sterling Clark Art Institute, 1952. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Seven: The Regency and Louis XVI Rooms. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1957. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Thirty-two: Old Silver Dining Accessories. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1966. Wees, Beth Carver. The Chinese Taste: European Visions of Cathay. Exhibition brochure. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1979. E. Alfred Jones. Illustrated Catalogue of the Collection of Old Plate of J. Pierpont Morgan, Esquire.. London: Bemrose & Sons.. 1908. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Exhibit Four & Exhibit Seven, Supplement: West Gallery. Exhibition catalogue. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1959. Edith Gaines.. "Powell? Potts? Pitts!--the T.P Epergnes." Antiques 87 (April 1965):462-65.. 1965.. Hernmarck, Carl. The Art of the European Silversmith, 14301830. 2 vols. London and New York: Philip Wilson for Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1977. London, Christie's.. Important English, Scottish, and Continental Silver, 24 June 1981.. 1981.. New York, Christie's.. Fine English and Continental Silver, Objects of Vertu, and Russian Works of Art, 16-17 April 1985.. 1985.. Seggerman, Helen-Louise. "Silver." Art & Auction 7 (June 1985): 129–30. Schroder, Timothy B. The Gilbert Collection of Gold and Silver. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New York: distributed in the U.S. by Thames and Hudson, 1988. Wees, Beth Carver. English, Irish, and Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1997.

Provenance

J. Pierpont Morgan, sale Parke-Bernet, New York, 1 November 1947, lot 477, bought Peter Guille, Ltd., New York; sold to Robert Sterling Clark, 10 November 1947.¹ 1. That the epergne now in the Clark collection is the very one formerly belonging to Morgan is confirmed by Peter Guille's invoice of 10 November 1947, which reads: "Articles purchased for your account at the Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., from the Morgan sale November 1st, 1947"; see Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute archives.