Pair of Thomas Fletcher Antique Coin Silver Sauce Tureens, Philadelphia, PA, 1830-40

These exquisite sauce tureens, with their original covers, are elegantly decorated with restrained classical motifs. Round sauce tureens like these are very rare in silver; they occur more commonly in ceramics. The stepped pedestal bases are bordered with applied foliate banding.

Complimentary collars decorate the tops of the necks, which reflect upwards onto the bowls. The shaped bowls are nicely engraved with a script 'WSJ' monogram. Bordering the top rims of the bowls are applied bands of fine beading and laurel leaves which also secure the covers.

Flowering acanthus bud finials with repousséd cascading leaves adorn the domes of the covers.

Made in the shape of a calyx, an ancient Greek drinking vessel, these tureens display Fletcher's deep knowledge of and affinity with classical design.

These elegant and rare sauce tureens are marked 'T. FLETCHER/ PHILAD.' They measure just under 8.5 inches high by 7.5 inches in diameter, weigh 36.65 troy ounces each (73.30 total), and are in excellent antique condition.

Exhibition:
Silversmiths to the Nation, Thomas Fletcher & Sidney Gardiner: 1808-1842, catalog number 74, Travelling Exhibition 2007-2008, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Winterthur Museum.

Literature:
Donald L. Fennimore & Ann K. Wagner, Silversmiths to the Nation, Thomas Fletcher & Sidney Gardiner: 1808-1842, p. 222.

Provenance:
Hinda Kohn, March 1979.
The Collection of Roy and Ruth Nutt: Highly Important American Silver, Sotheby's, January 24, 2015, lot 420.
Private Collection.