A silver chocolate pot with a hinged lid decorated with fluted and repousse foliage. The handle…

Images(7)

A view of the side with "JGT" inscribed in a cartouche.

A view of the bearded face under the spout.

A view of the handle and back of the pot.

Maker's marks stamped on the bottom of the pot.

A close-up of the inscription on the side of the pot.

Chocolate Pot

Maker Grosjean & Woodward ((active 1840-1862))

Maker Samuel Wilmot Jr. (American (active c. 1825 - 1856))

Date1840 - 1856

Mediumsilver

Dimensions6 1/2 × 5 1/2 inches (16.5 × 14 cm)

MarkingsMaker's mark stamped on the bottom: S.WILMOT in semicircle / 3 / G & W [dot] G & W / ENGLISH STERLING / 925-1000

Credit LineBequest of Margaret Gray Thomas.

Object numberOT1951.193

On View

On view

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 TextThe two marks on the underside of this chocolate pot indicate the degree to which Savannah silversmiths fostered connections with firms elsewhere along the East Coast. One mark is for Grosjean & Woodward, a partnership between Charles Woodward (1835–1865) and Eli Woodward (c. 1841–1866) that began in Boston and moved to New York. The firm operated until 1856, and they frequently supplied silver to other retailers, most famously New York’s Tiffany & Company (founded 1837). The other is that of Samuel Wilmot, who was born in Connecticut and moved to the South, where he was active in Georgetown, South Carolina as early as 1830. He assumed control of his cousin Thomas T. Wilmot’s (1804–1850) firm in Savannah after his death, until he partnered with Henry A. Richmond in 1860. The second mark likely indicates Wilmot as the retailer of the pot. The “JGT” monogram may have been added later, for the donor Margaret Gray Thomas’s father, James Gray Thomas (1834–1884), who married Margaret Wallace Owens (1829–1915) in 1865.

Collections