This object is currently on display in room 206 as part of The Virtue in Vice. There are 6 other images of this object. See our image rights statement.
See more objects with the color maroon darkgrey brown darkslategrey grey or see all the colors for this object.
Object Timeline
|
-0001 |
|
|
1996 |
|
|
1998 |
|
|
2017 |
|
|
2024 |
|
Object ID #18705797
This is a Dessert service and case. It is dated ca. 1890 and we acquired it in 1996. Its medium is silver, steel, gilding, enamel, mother-of-pearl; oak, brass, metal, leather, felt (case and trays). It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
Designed not just for opulent display but also as a functional element in a final dinner course, this dessert service is an example of the expansive, highly specialized sets of cutlery that were considered ceremonially and functionally necessary for the elegant dinner table in late-19th-century Europe and America. This extravagant display of wealth in silverware exhibits the overindulgence attributed to gluttony.
It is credited Museum purchase from Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, Decorative Arts Association Acquisition, and Sarah Cooper-Hewitt Funds.
Its dimensions are
(Largest knife): L x W x D: 20 x 1 x 0.8 cm (7 7/8 x 3/8 x 5/16 in.) (Largest spoon): L x W x D: 19.6 x 3.8 x 2.6 cm (7 11/16 in. x 1 1/2 in. x 1 in.) (Largest fork): L x W x D: 19.4 x 2.3 x 2 cm (7 5/8 x 7/8 x 13/16 in.) (Sugar nippers, closed): L x W: 14.7 x 5.8 cm (5 13/16 x 2 5/16 in.) (Grape shears): L x W x D: 15.5 x 5.4 x 1.5 cm (6 1/8 x 2 1/8 x 9/16 in.) (Cake tong, assembled and closed): L x W x D: 26.3 x 6 x 4.7 cm (10 3/8 x 2 3/8 x 1 7/8 in.) (Ladle): L x W x D: 29.1 x 6.2 x 3.8 cm (11 7/16 x 2 7/16 x 1 1/2 in.) (Sugar sifter): L x W x D: 20.7 x 6.9 x 4 cm (8 1/8 x 2 11/16 x 1 9/16 in.) (Fruit server): L x W x D: 24.5 x 9 x 3 cm (9 5/8 x 3 9/16 x 1 3/16 in.) (Cherry spear): L x W x D: 21.3 x 4.5 x 1 cm (8 3/8 x 1 3/4 x 3/8 in.) (Ice cream server): L x W x D: 24.4 x 6.8 x 2.1 cm (9 5/8 x 2 11/16 x 13/16 in.) (Cake server): L x W x D: 28.1 x 6.6 x 0.8 cm (11 1/16 x 2 5/8 x 5/16 in.)
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Virtue in Vice.
