1774-1775

Salt Dish

Richard Humphreys

American (born West Indies), 1750 - 1832

This salt dish was part of an important rococo service commissioned by George Emlen IV (1741-1812) upon his marriage to Sarah Fishbourne in 1775. Executed in Philadelphia by silversmith Richard Humphreys (1750-1832), the service of approximately twenty-eight pieces included a suite of four sauceboats, a set of castors with a stand, salt dishes, coffeepot, salver tray, and four canns.

Many of the surviving pieces thus far discovered bear the engraved cipher of Emlen within an asymmetrical rococo cartouche. Extensive silver services such as this, because of their initial expense, were found in only the most genteel eighteenth-century households. This service is one of the largest thus far documented.