Covered Ewer 1824 - 1827

This is a silver Covered Ewer, crafted by Frederick Marquand. Its surface blooms with roses, symbols of love and beauty, recurring motifs throughout art history. Consider Botticelli’s Venus, surrounded by roses, embodying divine love. Here, on this ewer, the roses are intertwined with leaves, and even zoomorphic features around the handle, reminiscent of ancient Greek rhytons. The ewer's feet, too, end in stylized animal paws. Such imagery can be traced back to early symbolic languages; the fusion of animal and plant forms hints at nature's untamed power. These symbols evoke a primitive impulse to connect with the natural world. This decorative language, passed down through generations, showcases how primal symbols resurface, continuously evolving, yet retaining echoes of their origins. This ewer is not merely a vessel, but a testament to the enduring power of symbols.