Bowl with cover (Écuelle) (part of a traveling set)
Joachim-Frédéric Kirstein I|Johann Friedrich Krug
ca. 1756 · Silver gilt · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Covered bowls such as this, known in France as écuelles, were intended for serving hot broth or soup. During the early eighteenth century, broth or bouillon was commonly consumed in the bedroom in the morning during the toilette, the elaborate washing and dressing ritual. The bowl’s cover kept the contents warm, and the broth could be sipped from the bowl by using the two handles, while bread rested on the stand (1974.356.680). This gilt-silver écuelle is notable for its Rococo-style handles, composed of overlapping irregularly shaped cartouches, and for the chased decoration encircling the finial on the cover enriched with a waterfowl swimming among reeds, a goat, and sprays of flowers. This particular écuelle has retained its original protective tooled-leather case (1974.356.684).
- Artist
- Joachim-Frédéric Kirstein I|Johann Friedrich Krug
- Date
- ca. 1756
- Medium
- Silver gilt
- Culture
- French, Strasbourg
- Department
- European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
- Credit line
- The Lesley and Emma Sheafer Collection, Bequest of Emma A. Sheafer, 1973
