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This elegant silver epergne with ringing bells and pineapple finial once graced Ellen and A.J. Drexel’s dining table. Each of the dishes, from which guests would have served themselves candied fruit and nuts, bear the stag and crown Drexel family crest and are engraved with Ellen’s initials – “ERD”. The fanciful pagoda design is an example of 18 th century Chinoiserie. Chinoiserie imagined a China based upon Chinese (and Japanese) ceramics, furniture, wallpaper and textiles made specifically for export to Europe. A London silversmith, Thomas Pitts would have been aware of the 10-storey pagoda recently erected at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, designed by Sir William Chambers.