Coffee, widely consumed throughout the Middle East, was introduced to Europe during the early seventeenth century by Turkish traders. Although enjoyed as a domestic drink, coffee was first popularized through coffee houses. Britain’s first opened in Oxford in 1650, and establishments in London soon followed. The arrival of coffee had a profound effect on social behavior, and its consumption demanded elaborate rituals and new vessels for preparing and serving. While coffee drinking remained popular on the continent, in England it was eventually superseded by tea, which became a mainstay of existence.
- Titles Coffeepot (Descriptive)
- Artist Robert Albin Cox, England, about 1731 - 1826; first entered mark 10 July 1752
- Medium silver and ivory
- Dimensions 10 1/2 × 8 × 4 3/4 in. (26.7 × 20.3 × 12.1 cm)
- Credit Line Museum purchase, 1956.12
- Work Type coffeepot
- Classification Containers
- On View
- Signature On the upper body outer edge: maker’s mark RC; lion passant; leopard’s head crowned; date letter t for 1754/55
- Marks On the upper body outer edge: maker’s mark RC; lion passant; leopard’s head crowned; date letter t for 1754/55
- Inscription On one side an engraved coat-of-arms (possibly of the Irish branch of the Judge family) within an oval reserve surrounded by two bound branches (one laurel, one possibly palm), a badge with a seated Irish Wolfhound above
- Provenance Dealer William Walter Antiques, Ltd., London, England; purchased by the Birmingham Museum of Art in 1956
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