Charleston Loan Exhibition

35 This elegant, octagonal-shaped pitcher was made by Charleston silversmith John Ewan, who was working in Charleston between 1823 and 1852. Exhibiting his skill, Ewan used a variety of decorative techniques such as repoussé , and he covered the pitcher’s rectilinear surfaces with elaborate rococo cartouches and three-dimensional floral designs that suit its stylish form and functional shape. Octagonal forms were fashionable in the first half of the nineteenth century, and this silver pitcher may have been created to emulate fashionable Parisian porcelain tea services by Jean-Marx Clauss (1820–1846) or Jacob Petit (1820–1848)— one of which is in the collection of Middleton Place Foundation. Susan Middleton Lynah Norris, a great-granddaughter of Henry Middleton (1717–1784), is interestingly believed to have received this pitcher as a wedding gift when she married Dr. Richard Norris in April 1853. John Ewan died October 1, 1852, and this pitcher has a history of being a gift in 1853. Therefore, it may have been one of the last major pieces of silver he made. The pitcher would have been purchased from John’s son William Ewan, who continued the business a year after his father’s death. 1 MES 1. The Middleton Archives has a receipt documenting that in the summer of 1852 Williams Middleton, owner of Middleton Place, purchased a silver pitcher from Hayden Brothers & Co. on the corner of King and Hasel. He paid $120.00 for the pitcher and $5.00 for the engraving. John Ewan (1786–1852) Pitcher Charleston, SC, ca. 1852 Silver H. 12¾ x W. 8¾ inches Engraved: SLN for Susan Lynah Norris; stamped on bottom: J EWAN Lent by Middleton Place Foundation, Charleston, SC