Cup with cover
19th century
Medium
Silver on base metal
Dimensions
Overall: 20 1/4 × 6 1/2 × 6 1/2 in. (51.4 × 16.5 × 16.5 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Electrotype
Culture
British, Birmingham, after German, Augsburg original
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1883
Accession Number
83.18.109a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant "Cup with Cover," crafted by the renowned British firm Elkington & Co in 19th-century Birmingham, exemplifies the revolutionary electrotype process—a technique the company pioneered in the 1840s. Using silver electroplated over base metal, it faithfully reproduces an original 17th-century German silver cup from Augsburg, a center of intricate metalwork renowned for its Baroque exuberance. Measuring an impressive 20¼ inches tall, this piece entered the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection in 1883 as a gift from Henry G. Marqu, highlighting the era's fascination with historical r...
About the Artist
Elkington & Co. · 1829–1963
Elkington & Co. was the Birmingham firm that transformed the production of decorative metalwork by commercializing electroplating — a process that made silver-quality objects accessible to a vastly wider public. The company was established by George Richards Elkington (1801–1865) and his cousin Henry Elkington during the 1830s, initially trading as G. R. Elkington & Co. A crucial turning point cam...