Lot 309
An Important New Orleans Coin Silver Presentation Coffee and Tea Service, c. 1860, Terfloth & Kuchler (Bernard Terfloth & Christopf Christian Kuchler, wc. 1858-1866), including a tray, coffeepot, two teapots, a covered sugar basin, a waste bowl and a cream pitcher, each inscribed "Presented to F.H. Hatch / Collector of the Port of New Orleans / By his Friends in the Custom House / May 1st 1861," and each decorated with a repoussé and chased vignette illustrating the commerce of the port of New Orleans (except the creamer which is engraved only with the presentation inscription), each finial a different example of Louisiana fruits and nuts, including a fig, orange, pecan and acorns, coffee pot height 11 1/8 in., tray 29 in. x 18 1 8 in., combined weight 295 75 troy ozs.
- Provenance: Provenance: Descended in the family of Francis Hanson Hatch. Sold Neal Alford Company, November 5, 1988 Auction Lot #138 Private Collection. Exhibited Queen of the South: New Orleans in the Age of Thomas K. Wharton, 1853 1862, Historic New Orleans Collection, Nov. 9, 1999-Apr. 8, 2000, illustrated in Queen of the South: New Orleans, 1853-1862, The Journal of Thomas K. Wharton, p. 249, and in The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly, Fall 2000, pgs. 8 & 9 ~ Note: In "Reflections in Silver: The Hatch Presentation Coffee and Tea Service", H. Parrott Bacot and Carey T. Mackie pronounce the service to be "... the most sumptuous in design and decoration, as well as the most lavish in iconography, of all the known examples of New Orleans-made presentation silver." The details are truly exceptional. The coffeepot vignette features an allegorical figure of Commerce surrounded by cotton bales, barrels and crates. One teapot includes a view of the port taken from the 1852 lithograph New Orleans from the Lower Cotton Press; the other teapot shows an allegorical figure of the Father of the Waters with a steamboat, palm and alligator. The sugar basin is decorated with a vignette of Belle Grove Plantation taken from Norman's Chart of the ower Mississippi delineated by Adrien Persac. Perhaps most remarkable is the tray, which is centered with a view of the Custom House. In his journal entry of May 12, 1861, T.K. Wharton writes "The large salver of solid silver is enriched with beautiful chased copy of the first perspective drawing I made for the New Custom House in 1848...". "Reflections in Silver: The Hatch Presentation Coffee and Tea Service" is fascinating and we recommend a complete reading of the article. Bacot and Mackie posit that the service was made in whole or in part while Louisiana was a sovereign nation and an early member of the Confederacy. They point out that the Custom House is shown flying the banner of the republic of Louisiana and the first Confederate flag. Another outstanding example of Terfloth & Kuchler presentation silver is the tray and goblet set presented to Colonel James B. Walton by the Washington Artillery and illustrated in Crescent City Silver, p. 38 References: Crescent City Silver. The Historic New Orleans Collection, New Orleans, 1980 Queen of the South: New Orleans, 1853-1862, The Journal of Thomas K. Wharton. The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1999 Bacot, H. Parrott and Carey Turner Mackie. "Reflections in Silver: The Hatch Presentation Co fee and Tea Service." The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly. Vol. XVIII, No. 4 (Fall 2000), pp. 8-10 http://www.hnoc.org/publications/pdf/HNOC_Q4_2k.pdf
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