Glass Cooler
c. 1809–19
Medium
Gilt silver
Dimensions
12.7 × 22.4 × 33 cm (5 × 8 13/16 × 13 in.); 12.7 × 22.3 × 32.8 cm (5 × 8 3/4 × 12 7/8 in.)
Classification
dish (vessel)
Department
Applied Arts of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
25116
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The cool, bright nature of silver is exploited to great effect in this bowl, or verrière. Its decorative motif was also meant to create a chilly impression, showing swans, cattails, and playful dolphins above a band of aquatic plants. When this piece was made, guests at elegant dinner parties customarily consumed menus of many courses, each with its own carefully selected accompaniment from the wine cellar. In the days before modern refrigeration, serving chilled drinks was not as simple a task ...
About the Artist
Martin-Guillaume Biennais · 1764–1843
Martin-Guillaume Biennais (1764–1843) was the most celebrated goldsmith and silversmith of the Napoleonic era, a craftsman whose work in precious metals became synonymous with the taste and grandeur of the First Empire. Beginning his career as a toy-maker and lacquer merchant, he made the remarkable transition to goldsmithing in the 1790s, establishing himself in Paris and rapidly attracting the p...