Teapot (c. 1755–60): Art, History and Details

Teapot (c. 1755–60) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Nathaniel Hurd (American, 1730–1778).

The work and its context

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

This teapot not only demonstrates Hurd's mastery of the art of forging silver, but of engraving it as well. The design for the coat of arms of the Gibbs family incised on this teapot was probably taken from Guillim's Display of Heraldry, published in 1724. In Hurd's portrait by Copley the words "Display of Heraldry/J. Guillim" are visible on the spine of the large book shown at the sitter's elbow.

Object facts

• Title: Teapot
• Date: c. 1755–60
• Creator attribution: Nathaniel Hurd (American, 1730–1778)
• Culture: America
• Type: Silver
• Technique: Silver, Wood
• Dimensions: with handle: 14.5 x 24.4 cm (5 11/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1940.228

A detail from the museum

The master silversmith Nathaniel Hurd, whose portrait hangs nearby, made this teapot engraved with the crest of the family that commissioned it. Tea was a precious commodity in Colonial America and this silver piece would have held a place of honor at the owner's tea table.

Collection credit

Gift of Hollis French

Further reading listed by the museum

• Foote, Helen. "A Collection of Early American Silver Gift of Hollis French." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 27, no. 9 (November 1940): 131-142.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.

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.