Ice Cream Slicer and 10 Ice Cream Spoons

Kidney, Cann & Johnson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The mid-nineteenth century witnessed an efflorescence of creativity in the American silver industry, fueled by the burgeoning middle class’s increasing demand for refined luxury goods. Silversmiths devoted considerable time and creative energy to generating an endless variety of new designs and patterns. During the 1860s and 1870s silver flatware ornamented with portrait medallions inspired by antique coins and cameos enjoyed widespread popularity, with virtually every American silversmith producing their own proprietary "medallion" pattern. Although unmarked, other examples of this pattern document that it was created by either Kidney & Johnson, its predecessor firm Kidney, Cann & Johnson, or its successor S. H. Johnson, silversmiths active in New York City from about 1863 into the 1870s. Prior to the nineteenth century, ice cream had been a luxury available only to the most elite echelons of society; however, with the invention of insulated ice houses and advances in steam power, an American ice cream industry was born. During the second half of the nineteenth century, increasing numbers of Americans were able to enjoy ice cream, and they sought to celebrate the privilege and joy of consuming the frozen treat by designating specialized flatware, such as this set, for the purpose.

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