Sugar bowl and spoons

Bendix Gijsen

1804 · Silver, partly gilt · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This sugar bowl is notable for its striking originality. The globe-shaped bowl is opened by pressing the compass finial, which causes the top half of the globe to retract. The columnar base is fitted with slots to hold spoons. The prevailing Neoclassical taste is reflected in the swags of grapevines and Mercury heads that encircle the bottom of the globe as well as in the truncated column base. However, the absence of unnecessary ornamentation and the sense of monumentality create an unusually "modern" object.

Artist

Bendix Gijsen

Date

1804

Medium

Silver, partly gilt

Culture

Danish, Copenhagen

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Purchase, Friends of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Gifts, 1991