Miniature coffeepot with cover
ca. 1720–30
Medium
Silver, wood
Dimensions
Height: 1 13/16 in. (4.6 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Silver-Miniature
Culture
British, London
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Joseph M. and Aimee Loeb May Collection, 1963
Accession Number
63.53.245a, b
Art Historical Context
Nestled among the treasures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Sculpture andative Arts collection, this *Miniature coffeepot cover* by London silversmith David Clayton to around 1720–30. Crafted from gleaming silver with a wooden handle, it stands just 1 13/ inches (4.6 cm) tall—a testament to the era's masterful metalworking skills. Part of The Joseph M. and A Loeb May Collection, this tiny vessel captures the elegance of early Georgian Britain in miniature form. In the early 18th century, coffeehouses flourished across London as hubs of social and intellectual life, fueling demand...
About the Artist
David Clayton · 1659–1719
David Clayton was an American artist active during the New Deal era who contributed to the Index of American Design, the federal government's sweeping effort to document American decorative arts and folk traditions through watercolor illustration. Organized under the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project beginning in 1935, the Index employed artists in thirty-four states to render ev...