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William Ball

Covered Sugar Urn

1789-1799

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William Ball

Covered Sugar Urn

1789-1799

Physical Qualities Silver, 10 1/2 x 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (26.7 x 12.1 x 12.1 cm)
Credit Line Gift of Virginia P.B. White, Baltimore
Object Number 1933.54.62
In 1933, Virginia P.B. White, one of the founders of the Baltimore Museum of Art, donated 200 pieces of Maryland-made silver, initiating what has become a focal point in the Museum’s American collection. Today the BMA houses more than 1,500 pieces of silver, including a near-encyclopedic collection of Maryland examples from 1780 to 1850. Many were made by immigrant artisans who brought their talents as silversmiths with them from Europe. The BMA also holds imposing English silver owned by Maryland families during the colonial and Federal periods. Over the years, fine American and European examples from the late 19th and early 20th centuries have been added, widening the collection’s range while maintaining the high standard of quality set by the initial gift. Today’s visitors can examine Maryland silver within a rich, international context in multiple locations throughout the American Wing. Here in Willow Brook parlor- configured and decorated in neoclassical tradition- we invite visitors to compare a variety of silver forms, all inspired by an enduring interest in the classical past.
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1933; Virginia Purviance Bonsal White (1869-1955), Baltimore, MD
AMW Reinstallation 2014

American Wing Rotations 2020

American Wing Rotations 2021

American Wing Rotations 2022

American Wing Rotations 2023

American Wing Rotations 2024

American Wing Rotations 2025
Goldsborough, Jennifer Faulds. "Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Maryland Silver in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1975. p. 68, ill.
Goldsborough, Jennifer Faulds. "Silver in Maryland", Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1983. p.74, ill.
Pleasants and Sill, p. 91 & pl. XV, no. 4

Inscribed: Engraved monogram "M" on side

Markings: On underside: Maker's Mark, "W. BALL" (2x) On underside: etched "VW 244"

Maker

William Ball

1762–1814

1763-1815
Meet William →

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