Maker Unknown
Tea Urn
c. 1780-1790
The interior of this urn is fitted with a cylinder that could hold a heated iron rod to keep water hot and ready to pour over tea leaves. It is made of silver plate, an innovation first developed in Sheffield, England, in the 1760s. Thin layers of silver were fused to copper, resulting in wares that looked like sterling silver but were significantly cheaper. As is visible in several places on this urn, repeated polishing caused the silver to wear away, revealing the copper below.
| Medium | silver plate |
| Dimensions | 21 1/8 × 10 7/8 × 10 5/8 in. (53.7 × 27.6 × 27 cm) Height without lid: 19 in. (48.3 cm) Base: 5 5/8 × 5 5/8 in. (14.3 × 14.3 cm) |
| Object Number | 2017.3 |
| Acquisition | Gift of John and Jytte Brooks, 2017 |
| Status | On View |
Image Caption
Maker Unknown, Tea Urn, c. 1780-1790, silver plate. Clark Art Institute, gift of John and Jytte Brooks, 2017.3
