Five-piece tea set

The decoration of this tea set is admired best when the pieces are in use and viewed at the proper height. The pleasing forms, refined lines, and delicate chasing demonstrate the aesthetic and technical ambition of Stone’s shop.

Commissioned as a wedding present for Lawrence and Alice Bullard in 1906, the original four-piece set documents early workshop practices when Stone executed much of the raising and chasing. After his stroke in 1926, much of that work was handled by his assistants. Stone was sufficiently proud of the group, and no doubt eager for similar commissions, to borrow the set from the Bullards in order to include it in the Society of Arts and Crafts exhibition the next year. Some six years later, the set was augmented by the kettle and stand, which were perhaps given as an anniversary present to Mrs. Bullard.2 By that time Stone’s business had grown, and he employed several full-time assistants. Herbert Taylor (w. 1908 – 1937) was involved with the creation of the kettle and stand to such a degree that he was allowed to strike his initial on them. The burner, however, was purchased from Whiting, one of the period’s foremost silver manufacturers.

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.