Notes
This repoussé Monteith bowl is part of a set of two silver pieces belonging to William Wirt Henry (1831–1900), a grandson of Patrick Henry who lived at Red Hill.
A Monteith bowl’s notched rim allows for glasses to be suspended in water for chilling and cleansing between courses during a long dinner. After the Monteith was filled with cold water, each glass could be hung by its foot from a notch in the rim, so that the bowl of every glass was submerged. The name Monteith is said to come from a mythical Scotsman named Monteigh, who wore cloaks with a similar notched pattern.
The silversmithing company, Samuel Kirk & Son, produced this bowl between 1890 and 1896. It is made of 925/1000 silver, which the company first produced in 1886. Samuel Kirk (1793–1872) established his company in Baltimore, Maryland, and is best known for introducing repoussé—a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief—to the United States.
William Wirt Henry likely purchased this Monteith and may have used it at Red Hill. Henry owned several other silver hollowware pieces by the Kirk company, including a salver (76.122.1) and gifted pitcher (76.122.2).
Following the death of William Wirt Henry, the bowl passed to his daughter, Lucy Gray Henry Harrison (1857–1944). It remained with Mrs. Harrison at Red Hill until her death in 1944. The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation purchased this bowl from Elizabeth Kerper (1873–1964), executrix to the Lucy Harrison estate, on June 30, 1945.