Two-Handled Covered Cup

1698–1720

This vessel by one of New York’s foremost early silversmiths, Cornelius Kierstede, was used to serve syllabub, a whipped cream dessert flavored with wine, cider, or ale. The cover helped preserve the drink and could be inverted into a stand for the cup. A third-generation silversmith of Dutch descent, Kierstede often found patrons in wealthy Dutch colonists, like the family who commissioned this cup.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Cornelius Kierstede (American, 1674–1757) New York

Date

1698–1720

Medium

Silver

Dimensions

12.7 × 20.3 × 12.7 cm (5 3/8 × 8 5/8 × 5 3/4 in.)

Origin

New York

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. James W. Alsdorf, Pauline Seipp Armstrong, Marshall Field, Charles C. Haffner III, Mrs. Burton W. Hales, Mrs. Harold T. Martin, Mrs. C. Phillip Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Milo M. Naeve, Mrs. Eric Oldberg, Mrs. Frank L. Sulzberger, and the Ethel T. Scarborough Fund