H x W x D: 10 3/4 × 10 3/4 × 5 1/4 in. (27.3 × 27.3 × 13.3 cm)
Type:
coffeepots
Place made:
London, England
Date:
ca. 1800
Caption:
These pieces, much like those they would replace in Slavery and Freedom, represent the deadly plantation economy in the New World that satisfied the international demand for sugar, which became a staple in the English tea industry. They also represent the financial success that sugar brought to successful slave owners, financiers, slave traders, sugar merchants, and the lifestyle maintained by sugar consumers in the United States. Sugar, Britain’s largest import, was also the focus of one of the first anti-slavery boycotts after the abolition bill was rejected by British Parliament in 1791. The boycott attempted to put economic pressure on the slave-dependent industry of sugar, hastening the end of the trade.
Description:
A George III sterling silver coffee pot by Daniel Pontifex, London. It has an oval shaped body with a later narrow curved black wooden handle. The hinged lid is domed with raised fluting around the crown of the dome, radiating outwards from the knob on top of the lid. The knob is oval and is made of wood, stained black. There is a small silver finial capping off the knob. The lid is hinged at one end and flips upwards towards the handle. The coffee pot's shoulders flare outwards and form a small flat rim around the circumference. The rim flares outwards slightly and is decorated with a raised repeating striated pattern. The upper body of the coffee pot is smooth while the lower half is decorated by fluting in sections. The long spout also has fluting wrapped around its lower half. One side of the coffee pot has an image of a large bird, possibly a pelican, with a fish in its mouth, engraved into the upper half. On the opposite side of the coffee pot is an image of a lion rampant, with a scroll over its head. In the scroll is text that reads "Forward." At the base of the coffee pot is a narrow stem with which it is attached to a pedestal foot with four points, one at each corner. Each point corresponds to a crease in the metal that runs vertically up the body of the body of the coffee pot, dividing the surface into four sections. The foot of the pot is plain, with five hallmarks stamped along the side. One mark is the initials "DP" inside a square cartouche. Next to it is a lion passant in a rectangular cartouche, denoting production in London. The next three marks are two ovals, both with unclear images, and the date letter "E" within a square cartouche.
