Coffee Urn (c. 1843): Art, History and Details

Coffee Urn (c. 1843) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Samuel Kirk (American, 1793–1872).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Samuel Kirk was a leading American silversmith in the early 19th century whose Baltimore studio had became a major American silver company that thrived throughout the middle of the 20th century. Such a large, impressive coffee urn as this highly decorated example was considered the ultimate in Samuel Kirk silver and was largely made by hand.

Object facts

• Title: Coffee Urn
• Date: c. 1843
• Creator attribution: Samuel Kirk (American, 1793–1872)
• Culture: America
• Type: Silver
• Technique: Silver, ivory
• Dimensions: Overall: 45 x 26.5 x 22 cm (17 11/16 x 10 7/16 x 8 11/16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 2021.121.a

A detail from the museum

The decoration on this coffee urn was achieved through a technique known as "repousse" in which the design was hammered into relief from behind.

Collection credit

Gift of Victoire Rankin in honor of Stephen Harrison's great service

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.