Name/Title
Egg WarmerEntry/Object ID
1972.255.1Description
Egg warmer made of American coin silver. It is comprised of an oval container with scroll feet, leaf-form shoulders, and an internal oval plate with two levels, each with nine cutouts. It has tapered feet, a central shaft, and ring handles. There is a handle on each side of the external container as well as a vine-form handle on the internal plate. The two lids are hinged to open at the center. The underside of the base is engraved "Wade Hampton 1835" and the face is engraved with a "W H" monogram.Use
Egg cookers like this were first seen in English upper-class homes in the late 1700s. This piece is equipped to hold 18 eggs at once, significantly more than the standard six. In the mid-1800s, it would have been placed in a dining space to warm eggs with boiled water, allowing the eggs to be served hot. As there is no burner under this piece, the device was likely used to keep the eggs warm after they were initially boiled in another pot over a fire. The eggs would have been collected, boiled, and placed within the device by enslaved people, who were also required to collect and heat the water used for the boiling and warming.Context
While inscribed 1835, it is uncertain which Wade Hampton this egg boiler was created for: Wade Hampton II (1791–1858) or his father Wade Hampton I (1754–1835), who died in February of that year. Regardless, Wade II likely used the egg warmer in a social setting to showcase his family's immense wealth.
Despite the 1835 date engraved on the egg boiler, Brower and Rusher, the company that made the item, was not yet in operation. Instead, Brower and Rusher bought out Brower's uncle, Baldwin Gardiner (1791–1869), and established their own manufacturing business in 1836. It is possible that a member of the Wade family commissioned the egg cooker in 1835, when the business was under Gardiner's name, and that the boiler was later completed by Brower and Rusher. It is also possible that the cooker was post-dated to correspond with Wade I's death.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
John Gardiner BrowerRole
MakerManufacturer
Brower and RusherDate made
1836Dimensions
Height
6-3/4 inWidth
10-1/4 inDepth
6-1/2 in
