The tall, narrow gourd shape of this ewer is decorated with a typical Baltimore repoussé (raised) pattern of landscape vignettes and flowers, hammered up from the inside of the vessel. Further engraving, called “chasing” enhances the raised images with additional detail. A cast ram’s head adorns the angular handle. A mark reading “11 oz” indicates that the piece is made of coin silver. Harder than sterling (as it contains less pure silver), coin silver lent itself to such highly detailed modeling. The ewer is stamped with one of the marks Samuel Kirk & Son used between 1846 and 1861, allowing us to date it to around 1850. An inscription on the inner side of the base records the ewer’s provenance: “Presented by Mrs. Henry Sewall to Samuel Kirk & Sons, Inc. for our permanent exhibit and with the understanding that eventually it will be given to the Baltimore Museum of Art, December 1939”. Five years later the piece was given to the BMA.