Nelson-Atkins Museum - Procter and Gamble Company's recent gifts to museums - Brief Article

Magazine Antiques, June, 2000 by Eleanor H. Gustafson

A birthday also figured in the Procter and Gamble Company's recent gifts to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Cincinnati Art Museum--the 150th birthday of the founding of Folgers Coffee in Kansas City in 1850 (coincidentally, the same year Kansas City was incorporated). To mark the occasion, Procter and Gamble gave the two museums major portions of the renowned collection of British coffeepots and related serving pieces assembled by Joseph S. Atha (1898-1970), who had been the president of Folgers Coffee when it was sold to Procter and Gamble in 1963.

Coffee, tea, and chocolate were introduced to England during the reign of Charles II (r. 1660-1685), and soon thereafter silver pots from which to serve these exotic beverages began to be made there. Atha's collection primarily spanned the evolution of the form from the early eighteenth century until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when mechanization took some of the art out of their creation. Among the seventy-two pieces given to the Nelson-Atkins Museum are one of the simplest--the early octagonal coffeepot shown at right--and one of the most ornate--the epergne shown above it. The former, date-marked for 1711 and one of the earliest known octagonal examples, is further distinguished by the unusual construction of the hinged top: the small screws that hold the hinge in place are easily removed to permit the easy removal of the cover. The elaborate epergne, made by Thomas Pitts of London in 1761, bespeaks the chinoiserie influence on late rococo English decorative arts.

The Cincinnati Art Museum received more than ninety objects from the Folgers Collection from Procter and Gamble, whose corporate headquarters are in that city. Appropriately the coffeepot by Paul de Lamerie shown below right is decorated with coffee sprigs under the spout and in the border of the cover. Lamerie is representative of the influence of Huguenot silversmiths who came to England at the beginning of the eighteenth century, bringing their own traditions of decoration and workmanship. A number of silversmiths were connected with Lamerie's prolific shop, including James Shruder, who made the highly rococo hot-water urn shown below left.