Collection Highlights
Fete to Lafayette
Date:
1824
Object Number:
PR.022.9
Medium:
Engraving
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Museum Collections
Luce Center
Fish slices (2)
Object Number:
1936.177
Date:
1855
Medium:
Silver
Dimensions:
Overall: 11 3/4 × 2 1/4 × 7/8 in. (29.8 × 5.7 × 2.2 cm)
Silver Weight: 4 oz (troy) 12 dwt (143 g)
Marks:
engraved: on the handles: the Perry family crest, an anchor on fess below a hind's head
stamped: on the undersides of the blades: "Wm. GALE & SON" in roman letters
Description:
Pair of silver fish slices with hollow cast, in vertical halves, wavy-end handles with foliate decoration and molded handle sockets; handles engraved with the Perry family crest, an anchor on fess below a hind's head; blades rounded and edgded on one side and each come to a point where they meet the opposite, scalloped edge; elaborated floral scroll decoration on both sides of the blades; makers' marks stamped on the blades.
Gallery Label:
On December 28, 1855, the Chamber of Commerce and Merchants of New York presented Commodore Matthew Calbraith perry with a 381-piece silver dinner service in acknowledgement of his successful negotiation of a treaty with Japan in 1854. In the letter of presentation the committee remarked, "To have brought this secluded Empire, into the intercourse of nations; is an achievement which may justly be ranked, among the greatest events of the age..."
Credit Line:
Gift of the Honorable Perry Belmont
Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change.
