Hot Water Urn

Gallery 102, American Art, first floor (Miller/Worley Gallery)

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Hot Water Urn

1774

Made by Richard Humphreys (American (born West Indies), 1750–1832) Engraved by James Smither (American (born England), c. 1740–1829) Presented to Charles Thomson (American (born Ireland), 1729–1824, Secretary of the First Continental Congress, 1774)

Used to dispense hot water when serving tea, this urn is the earliest documented object made in colonial America in the Neoclassical style. Its form, arcade and bead moldings, and stylized rosettes and laurel leaves all derive from English designs inspired by ancient Roman sources. By the mid-1780s this style, which came to be known as “Federal” after the American Revolution, had taken hold in Philadelphia. In contrast, the engraved cartouche by James Smither features the curvilinear, organic ornament of the earlier Rococo style. The First Continental Congress commissioned the urn in 1774 for presentation to its secretary, Charles Thomson, perhaps intending its classical qualities to reference the ancient Roman republic as a model for the fledgling American government.

Gallery 102, American Art, first floor (Miller/Worley Gallery)

Object Details

Titles:

Hot Water Urn

Date:

1774

Artists:

Made by Richard Humphreys (American (born West Indies), 1750–1832) Engraved by James Smither (American (born England), c. 1740–1829) Presented to Charles Thomson (American (born Ireland), 1729–1824, Secretary of the First Continental Congress, 1774)

Medium:

Silver

Dimensions:

21 1/2 × 10 1/2 × 11 1/4 inches (54.6 × 26.7 × 28.5 cm)

Classification:

Containers

Credit Line:

Purchased with funds contributed by The Dietrich American Foundation, 1977

Accession Number:

1977-88-1

Geography:

Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

Context:

Period: Colonial

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Gallery 102, American Art, first floor (Miller/Worley Gallery)

Main Building

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