Sugar bowl and spoons

Silversmith Bendix Gijsen Danish

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 521

This sugar bowl is notable for its striking originality. The globe-shaped bowl is opened by pressing the compass finial, which causes the top half of the globe to retract. The columnar base is fitted with slots to hold spoons. The prevailing Neoclassical taste is reflected in the swags of grapevines and Mercury heads that encircle the bottom of the globe as well as in the truncated column base. However, the absence of unnecessary ornamentation and the sense of monumentality create an unusually "modern" object.

Sugar bowl and spoons, Bendix Gijsen (Danish, 1765–1822), Silver, partly gilt, Danish, Copenhagen

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Sugar bowl and spoons, Bendix Gijsen (Danish, 1765–1822), Silver, partly gilt, Danish, Copenhagen
Sugar bowl and spoons, Bendix Gijsen (Danish, 1765–1822), Silver, partly gilt, Danish, Copenhagen
Sugar bowl and spoons, Bendix Gijsen (Danish, 1765–1822), Silver, partly gilt, Danish, Copenhagen
Sugar bowl and spoons, Bendix Gijsen (Danish, 1765–1822), Silver, partly gilt, Danish, Copenhagen

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