Compote

Maker Watson Company (active 1874 - 1955)

Datecirca 1920

Mediumsterling silver

DimensionsOverall: 8 7/8 × 6 5/8 in. (22.5 × 16.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Barbara B. Millhouse

CopyrightPublic Domain

Object number2011.2.6

DescriptionThe silver compote, which is one of a pair, is made up of a hemispherical bowl with a broad rim which is pierced and chased with neoclassical ornament, including patera, bellflowers, swags and bowknots, and acanthus leaves in diamonds. The pedestal tapers downward to a domed foot with four clusters of patera and bellflowers.

Neoclassicism was an important aspect of the Colonial Revival because is harkened back to the founding of the Republic. This compote include in its decoration the basic vocabulary of this style overlaid on geometric forms. The bowl would have had a glass lining to protect the silver from foods (especially salted foods) that would tarnish it.
ProvenanceFrom early 1960s to 2011
Barbara B. Millhouse, Winston-Salem, NC and New York, NY, acquired from Charles H. Babcock (1899-1967) in the early 1960s [1]

From 2011
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, given by Barbara B. Millhouse on June 9, 2011 [2]

Notes:
[1] Email from Barbara B. Millhouse, March 28, 2012. At the time her parents moved out of the house, before donating the estate to the Babcock Foundation, they allowed her to take some items.
[2] Accession Record, Board Minutes, and Deed of Gift, object file.

Status

On view