Originally purchased by New Yorker Gouverneur Morris (1752-1816) during his time in France as the United States minister, he later sold this late eighteenth-century coffeepot to Robert R. Livingston during his term in the office there. The coffeepot was probably purchased from French aristocrats who were seeking funds to flee the vicissitudes of the French Revolution. Morris approached Livingston, arguing that when in France it was more economical to own silver, as “your French servants will knock China plates to pieces very fast.” Livingston purchased a silver service from Morris, which included this coffeepot, and had it engraved with the Livingston family arms.