THE IMPORTANT LARGE-MIFFLIN FAMILY FIVE-PIECE SILVER TEA AND COFFEE SERVICE

Details

THE IMPORTANT LARGE-MIFFLIN FAMILY FIVE-PIECE SILVER TEA AND COFFEE SERVICE
MAKER'S MARK OF JOSEPH RICHARDSON, JR., PHILADELPHIA, 1799

Comprising coffee pot, teapot, covered sugar urn, cream pitcher and tea caddy; the first four pieces each fluted urn-shaped, on a spreading oval stem over a fluted oval base, the caddy fluted oval, with a flat hinged cover and a fluted-urn finial; the teapot and coffee pot each with a fluted S-scroll spout and the original carved wood handle with an acanthus leaf grip, the domed covers each with fluted urn finial; each piece engraved with script initials "SL" within a wreath, each marked--coffee pot 14½in. high
(gross weight 108oz.) (5)

Provenance

Sarah Large (1779-1856) and Thomas Mifflin (1777-1820), merchant of Philadelphia, married June 20, 1799. A descendant of the above, sold Christie's, New York?? June 4, 1988, lo66.

Exhibited

Philadelphia Museum of Art, April 14 to May 27, 1956. See checklist, "Exhibition of Philadelphia Silver, 1682-1800" (Philadelphia, 1956), nos. 402,403,411,414,415

Lot Essay

This tea service was a wedding present to Sarah Large from her father, Ebenezer Large (1750-1810), a prominent merchant of Philadelphia. Joseph Richardson's Day Book (now in the collection of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania) records Ebenezer Large's purchases for her daughter on June 5, just before her marriage, and again on August 13. The June 5 charge consisted of four pieces of this service, twelve tablespoons, eighteen teaspoons, a soup ladle, a pair of sugar tongs, and the cost of engraving "Cyphers & ornaments" on all pieces. On August 15, Ebenezer Large paid for both orders, which amounted to 131-18-3 ($345.63).

Photo Caption: Charges to Ebenezer Large in the Day Book of Joseph Richardson, Jr., June and August, 1799, pp. 87 and 92. Photographs Courtesy of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.