Teakettle, Stand, and Lamp

1706/7

The flattened, pear-shaped body of this teakettle displays the robust proportions favored by the silversmith Benjamin Pyne. The stand and lamp beneath the kettle ensured a continuous supply of hot water for refills during afternoon tea. Two carrying handles are attached to the upper portion of the stand, which is pierced with a series of elegant arch forms. The owner's coat of arms is engraved on the body and also appears on an elliptical disc above one of the stand’s scrolled feet.

Medium	silver and wood
Dimensions	Overall height: 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm) Teakettle: 9 1/4 x 9 1/4 x 6 3/4 in. (23.5 x 23.5 x 17.1 cm) Stand and lamp: 4 3/4 x 7 7/8 in. (12.1 x 20 cm) Weight: 81.46 oz (2309.4 g)
Object Number	1955.399
Acquisition	Acquired by Sterling and Francine Clark before 1955
Status	On View

Image Caption

Benjamin Pyne, Teakettle, Stand, and Lamp, 1706/7, silver and wood. Clark Art Institute, 1955.399

Select Bibliography

Tanner, A. Eva. Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Old English Plate and Decorations and Orders. Exhibition catalogue. London: 25 Park Lane, 1929. Guille, Peter. Exhibit Eighteen: Old Silver Tea Accessories. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, March 1962. Wees, Beth Carver. "From Silver Spouts the Grateful Liquors Glide." In Three Cheers for the Twenty-Fifth. Williamstown, MA: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1980. Anonymous. "In the Sale Room." Connoisseur 1 (September 1901): 43–57. Percy Macquoid.. "Silver Plate from the Collection of Mr. John A. Holms, II." Country Life 48 (July 3, 1920):20-22.. 1920.. London, Christie's.. Christie's Season 1931.. London: Constable & Co.. 1931.. Art News. "Auction Records; The London Market." Art News 36 (Dec. 4, 1937):14.. 1937.. 1937. Keyes, Homer Eaton. "An Acid Test of Antique Silver." Antiques 33 (January 1938): 32–33. Hughes, G. Bernard and Therle Hughes. Three Centuries of English Domestic Silver, 1500–1820. London: Litterworth Press, 1952. Comstock, Helen. "English Silver in the Robert S. Clark Collection at Williamstown, Mass." Connoisseur Year Book (1959): 38–44. Wees, Beth Carver. English, Irish, and Scottish Silver at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1997.

Provenance

Maurice Johnson, Ayscough-fee Hall, Lincolnshire, and Stanway Hall, Essex; sold Christie's, London, 9 July 1901, lot 114; bought D. Davis; John Augustus Holms, Formakin, near Bishopton, Renfrewshire, anonymous sale Christie's, London, 17 December 1930, lot 33; bought E. Permain; William Randolph Hearst, anonymous sale Sotheby's, London, 17 November 1937; bought Crichton Brothers, London; sold to Robert Sterling Clark, 18 May 1938.