Ewer

Thomas Fletcher

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Vessels for dispensing beverages such as water, beer, cider, and wine became increasingly popular during the first half of the nineteenth century. This handsome ewer, replete with cast, chased, and die-stamped ornament, is marked by Fletcher, who had founded, together with his partner Sidney Gardiner (1787–1827), the preeminent American silversmithing firm of the era. A preparatory drawing for the ewer survives in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art