Punch Bowl
ca. 1750
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
Overall: 4 x 8 9/16 in. (10.2 x 21.7 cm); 25 oz. 5 dwt. (785.8 g) Foot: Diam. 4 3/16 in. (10.6 cm)
Classification
Bowl
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Emily Burrall Hatton, 1942
Accession Number
48.15
Art Historical Context
This elegant silver punch bowl, crafted Adrian Bancker around 1750, exemplifies finest colonial American silversmithing from New York. Bancker, a skilled artisan active in the mid-18th century produced luxury items for the elite, blending British rococo influences with practical American functionality. Measuring just over 4 inches tall and 8½ inches wide, with a hefty 25 ounces of silver, this bowl was both a functional vessel for serving punch—a popular social drink of rum, fruit, and spices—and a symbol of wealth and hospitality. In the American colonies, silver punch bowls like this one we...