Pitcher

Samuel Kirk was perhaps the earliest American exponent of Europe’s new rage for the revival of the eighteenth-century Rococo style. From the beginning of his career, Kirk employed the technique of repousséd and chased foliate decoration characteristic of Rococo metalwork. Although some highly polished, plain surfaces remain on this pitcher, which was made early in Kirk’s career, ornament frequently covered the entire surface of his wares, which was known as “Baltimore-style” repoussé work (see cat. no. 218).

Kirk’s depictions of quaint country buildings and bridges, ruins of Gothic architecture, and children wandering through landscapes under trees and alongside brooks, as seen here, are derived from the romanticism of the mid-eighteenth century that found favor in Europe and America a century later. Sometimes referred to today as the “landscape” pattern, Kirk called it “Etruscan.”1 The wide traylike foot offers stability and adds to the decorative effect. Its flat polished surface and distinctive rippled edge reflect the shining brook pictured just above.

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.

On these two pitchers, the scenes of country cottages, meandering brooks, ruined Gothic buildings, and steepled churches are typical expressions of the sentimental Romantic movement of the nineteenth century, which gave rise to the Gothic Revival and the rebirth of many other historic styles. Romanticism emphasized the emotional qualities found in landscapes, art, and architecture with quaint irregularities, stirring contrasts, and historical associations.