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Mate Cup

1875–1900
Object PlaceUruguay
Medium/TechniqueSilver, nut
Dimensions10.5 x 10 x 7.8 cm (4 1/8 x 3 15/16 x 3 1/16 in.)
Credit LineGift of Miss Ellen Graves, Mrs. Samuel Cabot and Mrs. Roger Ernst in memory of their father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Edmund P. Graves
Accession number41.389
On View
On view
ClassificationsSilver hollowware
Collections
Description

The small growth at the side of this bottle gourd was commonly employed as a handle on mate cups. Silver fittings were added to the finer examples. These forms were particularly favored in Uruguay. A separate ring-shaped base, now lost but often made of silver, was intended to hold the cups upright when not in use.

This text has been adapted from "Silver of the Americas, 1600-2000," edited by Jeannine Falino and Gerald W.R. Ward, published in 2008 by the MFA. Complete references can be found in that publication.

InscriptionsNone.
ProvenanceCollected in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by Mr. and Mrs. Edmund P. Graves between 1898 and 1913.
Box
Unmarked
1692
Group shot: 2012.931.1-2
Unknown maker
about 1700-1710
Cooper & Fisher
1855
Tiffany & Co.
about 1878
Gorham Manufacturing Company
about 1915
Ciborium
18th century
Restricted
18th century
Standing cup (copa)
about 1750–1800
Paten (patena)
about 1600
Restricted: For reference only
18th century