Sugar bowl 1845

Editor: So, this intricately detailed "Sugar Bowl," dating back to 1845, was crafted from silver by Andrew Ellicott Warner. It's incredibly ornate. Almost overwhelming, isn't it? All that shimmering metal… what leaps out at you? Curator: Overwhelming is one way to put it. I'd also say it’s wonderfully exuberant! Think about the 1840s in America – there was a real appetite for lavish decoration. I wonder if this sugar bowl isn't also hinting at, maybe even sweetening, a society grappling with its growing wealth and complex tastes. Editor: That's a great point about the era’s taste for the lavish. I’d not considered how closely tied sugar consumption was, even back then, to… well, sweetness being a luxury. What's the deal with all the motifs, though? There seem to be buildings, flowers, maybe a coat of arms? It’s a little much, frankly. Curator: It is a bit of visual noise, isn’t it? The floral motifs give the piece an almost untamed natural element, which I suspect adds to its beauty. The coat of arms, of course, tells us this wasn’t just any old sugar bowl. It's screaming status, maybe old money announcing itself in new America. Who owned it is a real question mark in interpreting what the bowl symbolizes! It prompts consideration of family identity and historical position, if you will. Do you notice any other imagery that calls your attention? Editor: Actually, now that you mention the contrast between 'tamed' and 'untamed,' the balance makes a lot of sense. Thanks! I wonder if someone knows who originally owned it and what they thought of their Sugar Bowl today? Curator: Isn’t that always the delicious question with art? Trying to know a person we never got to actually meet.