Robert Swan
Sugar Bowl with Covercirca 1800

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Polished silver urn-form vessel with domed lid, pierced gallery rim, reeded base, and engraved script monogram on the body

Polished silver covered urn with ovoid body, domed lid topped by a finial, pierced gallery border at the rim, raised on a pedestal foot with square base.

Artist or Maker: Robert Swan
United States, Philadelphia, circa 1795-1815
Title: Sugar Bowl with Cover
Place Made: United States
Date Made: circa 1800
Medium: Silver
Dimensions: Diameter: 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm) Height: 9 1/2 in. (24.13 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Edwin H. Fricke
Accession Number: M.2007.59.2a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: American silversmiths in the early national period were quick to adopt a variety of Neoclassical forms and decoration. In keeping with a newly established government inspired by the ideals of ancient Greece and Rome, classical shapes and ornament soon dominated every branch of architecture and design. Simple geometry, clean lines, and plain surfaces replaced the earlier Rococo style that favored asymmetrical, naturalistic ornament. The body of this sugar bowl resembles a classical urn, a shape repeated in the finial. The only ornament present are bands of minuscule beading applied to the foot, waist, and cover, and the trim around the upper rim of the body. The elegant urn shape and beaded decoration are distinctive of silver produced by the leading silversmiths in Philadelphia during this period.

Robert Swan may be the same person by that name who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1774 from Kilmalalee, Scotland. We know little about his life and career, except that he worked in Philadelphia as a silversmith between 1799 and 1817 and later advertised as both a silversmith and an umbrella manufacturer until 1831.

Robert Swan
Sugar Bowl with Covercirca 1800

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: Robert Swan
United States, Philadelphia, circa 1795-1815
Title: Sugar Bowl with Cover
Place Made: United States
Date Made: circa 1800
Medium: Silver
Dimensions: Diameter: 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm) Height: 9 1/2 in. (24.13 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Edwin H. Fricke
Accession Number: M.2007.59.2a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: American silversmiths in the early national period were quick to adopt a variety of Neoclassical forms and decoration. In keeping with a newly established government inspired by the ideals of ancient Greece and Rome, classical shapes and ornament soon dominated every branch of architecture and design. Simple geometry, clean lines, and plain surfaces replaced the earlier Rococo style that favored asymmetrical, naturalistic ornament. The body of this sugar bowl resembles a classical urn, a shape repeated in the finial. The only ornament present are bands of minuscule beading applied to the foot, waist, and cover, and the trim around the upper rim of the body. The elegant urn shape and beaded decoration are distinctive of silver produced by the leading silversmiths in Philadelphia during this period.

Robert Swan may be the same person by that name who immigrated to Philadelphia in 1774 from Kilmalalee, Scotland. We know little about his life and career, except that he worked in Philadelphia as a silversmith between 1799 and 1817 and later advertised as both a silversmith and an umbrella manufacturer until 1831.