Little is known about Schuppe's origins, with it being difficult to trace if he had emigrated from Holland directly or if he was perhaps a German citizen originally; other workers in London at the time with the surname Schuppe had originated in Germany. He created the silver cow creamer design, and it was in immediately popular commodity. John Schuppe created subtle variations in his cow creamers, with some having a mirror finish on their skin, while others featured chased decoration across the entire cow to simulate its hair.
All Schuppe cow creamers are distinguishable through their curled tails which form handles, their low-slung udders, the hair decoration on their heads, and the use of an insect on their back to create a handle to open the creamer and refill it as needed. Often, the lid on the cow's back would also be ornamented with etched floral decoration. The cow's facial expression is usually one of cartoonish proportions, with a mouth agape to allow the milk to freely flow.
The social elite of England adored this design, and it was swiftly imitated by both other silversmiths as well as craftspeople with other specialty materials such as clay and ceramic, meaning that middle-class and working-class people soon had cow creamers of their own. The popularity of this design was such that replicas of it were crafted across England, soon being spread through Europe and North America.
Dutch and German silversmiths were those most often responsible for crafting cow creamers, with a vast majority being commissioned by members of the British upper class who had become so fond of the design.
Throughout the decades since this time, the cow-style creamer has maintained a certain level of popularity even among those who do not regularly use tea sets. While most modern-day tea-drinkers simply pour tea from the carton, there is a significant movement of those who keep their milk stored in creamers for the explicit purpose of inserting some joy and whimsy into something as mundane as a morning beverage.
Both naturalistic and stylistic interpretations of the cow creamer have been made with varying degrees of popularity, with the stylised designs giving way to more realistic ones in the early 19th century. Some notable differences can be seen in the cow's legs, which have evolved from being very thin and spindly with rounded, flat-looking hooves to a more substantial, thicker leg with more realistic hooves.
Whatever the style or materials used to make cow creamers, they remain highly popular today both for the practical purpose of serving milk or cream in addition to the more sentimental practise of collecting antique and vintage items. Antique silver cow creamers were instantly widely-loved by Britons and Europeans alike, and today they are among the most collected types of silver teaware.