A fine silver coffee pot - Joseph Richardson, Sr., Philadelphia, circa 1765

Of baluster shape on circular base with gadrooned rim, the wooden scroll handle with shell join, spout with conforming decoration, hinged cover with gadrooned border and finial, base engraved SM, marked on base - 11¼ in. high; 34 oz. gross weight - Estimate: $40,000-60,000

Prvenance :John E. Marble Collection, South Pasadena, California; thence by descent to the present owner

Note : The spout and lower handle castings are from the same molds as those on a coffeepot by Richardson illustrated in Martha Gandy Fales, Joseph Richardson and Family, 1974, fig. 33. The gadrooned moldings, finial, and upper handle join match those on another Richardson coffeepot illustrated in Buhler & Hood, American Silver in the Yale University Art Gallery, 1970, cat. no. 844, pp. 191-193.

Christie's. Important American Silver. 17 January 2008. 20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York