Butter Cooler
Datec. 1846
MediumSilver
Dimensions5 1/2 × 5 1/2 inches (14 × 14 cm)
MarkingsMaker's mark: S.K. 11 OZ
Credit LineGift of Mr. William K. Wallbridge.
Object number1959.6.2.a-.d
CopyrightThe images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextThrough much of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Samuel Kirk silversmith firm had a strong following, especially in the American South, for silver with robust repoussé and chased ornament, executed by hand. The combination of repoussé, in which shapes are pushed up in the silver from the back, and chasing, in which details are engraved in the surfaces, produces intricate, garden-like patterns. The Kirk firm fine-tuned their products and their decoration to customers’ specific orders. While taking one of Telfair Museums founder Mary Telfair’s orders with her sister Margaret, a clerk noted that “they like flowers to distinction and go in for Antique” (sic). This butter cooler, in which butter was stored for service on a pierced liner found underneath the domed lid, is engraved "MCT," most likely for Margaret Cairns Telfair, later Hodgson, Mary Telfair's younger sister.
Text written for 'Lingua Flora,' on view from June 21–September 8, 2024.
