A New York Sugar Bowl

By Donald M. Herr

Fig. 1  A New York sugar bowl with a distinctive finial.

A recently discovered and unrecorded sugar bowl having a distinctive thirteen petal finial is illustrated in Figure 1.  The double bellied sugar bowl is smaller in scale than those made in Philadelphia that have been attributed to William Will and Parks Boyd.  The sugar bowl is 4 5/8” in height, and top and bottom diameters are 4 1/8” and 3” respectively.  The diameter of the lid is 4 3/8”.  A detail of the finial is illustrated in Figure 2.  The finial on this diminutive sugar bowl appears to be from the same mold as those found on round or ball-shaped teapots thought to be of New York origin and made in the middle of the eighteenth century.¹  Figure 3 is such an example.  Note the same finial design on both sugar bowl and teapot.  The finial on the round teapot is illustrated in Figure 4.  It has been suggested that these early teapots may have been made by William Will.²  It is the author’s opinion that they were made in New York city.  They are stylistically similar to silver forms made in New York in the first half of the eighteenth century.³  Round, but more ovoid teapots were made by New York pewterers, Frederick Bassett, and William Kirby.⁴  In the New York Daily Advertiser for November 19, 1787, William Kirby had for sale “Tea pots, straight and round dittos”.⁵  The Lid of the sugar bowl has an anti skid rim and appears to be made from a tankard lid mold.  It is interchangeable with the lid of a tulip-shaped quart tankard made by John Will who worked in New York city from 1752 to 1774 (Figure 5).  It may have been made by John Will, who made pewter of the highest order and was aware of contemporary styles and tastes.⁶
 
 

Fig. 2  A detail of the thirteen petal finial on the sugar bowl.

Fig. 3  Similar finials on the sugar bowl and on a round teapot thought to be of New York origin.

 
 

Fig. 4  A detail of the finial on the round teapot.

Fig. 5  The lid of the sugar bowl is inter- changeable with the lid of a John Will tankard.

 

References:

1.  Laughlin, Ledlie I., Pewter in American Its Makers and Their Marks, Barre Publishers, Barre, Mass., 1971, fig. 763, 764.  Also see Montgomery, Charles F. A History of American Pewter, A Winterthur Book, Preager, N.Y., 1973, fig. 11-2, p. 171, and Hornsby, Peter R. G., Pewter Of The Western World, 1600 – 1850, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Exton, PA., 1983, fig. 496, p. 164.

2.  Myerson, Bernard B., “Research … Unending Discovery,” Bulletin, Pewter Collectors’ Club of America, August, 1972, V. 6, No. 7, p. 206.

3.  Montgomery, p. 170.

4.  Wolfe, Bette and Melvyn D., M.D., “An Egg Shaped Teapot by William Kirby,” Bulletin, Pewter Collectors’ Club of America, March/September, 1987, V. 9, Nos. 4 and 5, p. 105.

5.  Laughlin, Pewter In America Its Makers and Their Marks, Vol. III, p. 105

6.  Herr, Donald M., Pewter In Pennsylvania German Churches, The Pennsylvania German Society, Science Press, Ephrata, PA., 1995. ISBN 0-91122060-5. See Figs. 18 and 160, for illustrations of the only surviving eighteenth century coffeepot made by a New York pewterer.