Collection Highlights
Chatelaine
ca. 1761
1954.179a-d
Silver gilt, gold, enamel, ivory, chalcedony, glass, paint
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Dessert knives (35)
Object name
Dessert knives (35)
Date
1855
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
each overall: 8 1/8 x 3/4 x 5/8 in. ( 20.6 x 1.9 x 1.6 cm )
Silver Weight: 1 oz (troy) 8 dwt (44 g)
Description
Thirty-five silver dessert knives with wavy-end handles with foliate and knot decoration; undersides of the handles engraved with the Perry family crest, an anchor on fess below a hind's head; flat, curved end blades; makers' marks stamped on the blades.
Credit Line
Gift of the Honorable Perry Belmont
Object Number
1936.179-213
Marks
engraved: on the undersides of the handles: the Perry family crest, an anchor on fess below a hind's head
stamped: on the blades: "Wm. GALE & SON" in roman letters
Gallery Label
On December 28, 1855, the Chamber of Commerce and Merchants of New York presented Commodore Matthew Calbraith perry with a 381-piece silver dinner service in acknowledgement of his successful negotiation of a treaty with Japan in 1854. In the letter of presentation the committee remarked, "To have brought this secluded Empire, into the intercourse of nations; is an achievement which may justly be ranked, among the greatest events of the age..."
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
