George III silver sugar sifter ladle
date: label: Date
content: 1815
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Solomon Hougham, English, 1746 - 1818
notes: label: Caption
content: These pieces, much like those they would replace in Slavery and Freedom, represent the deadly plantation economy in the New World that satisfied the international demand for sugar, which became a staple in the English tea industry. They also represent the financial success that sugar brought to successful slave owners, financiers, slave traders, sugar merchants, and the lifestyle maintained by sugar consumers in the United States. Sugar, Britain’s largest import, was also the focus of one of the first anti-slavery boycotts after the abolition bill was rejected by British Parliament in 1791. The boycott attempted to put economic pressure on the slave-dependent industry of sugar, hastening the end of the trade.
label: Description
content: A George III silver sugar sifter ladle by Solomon Hougham, London. The ladle’s handle is done in the fiddle style, i.e. shaped like a fiddle, tapering to a slim stem. There is an engraved monogram at the top front of the handle that reads "BMG[?]". There is a long narrow stem leading to slightly flared shoulders above a plain drop to the circular bowl. The bowl is pierced by numerous small holes for sifting sugar. On the underside of the handle are five silversmith's hallmarks. a duty mark consisting of a portrait bust of the monarch in an oval cartouche indicates production in London. A date letter "'U" in a square cartouche indicates production in 1815. The next mark is an indistinct shape in a square cartouche. It followed by the initials "SH" in a rectangular cartouche with one rounded end. Next to this is stamped the letter "C".
place: label: Place made
content: London, England
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: British colonialism
label: Topic
content: Commerce
label: Topic
content: Cooking and dining
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Domestic life
label: Topic
content: Economics
label: Topic
content: Slave trade
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Sugarcane
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2020.32.4
objectType: label: Type
content: sugar spoons
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: sterling silver
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 4 7/8 × 1 1/4 × 1 in. (12.4 × 3.2 × 2.5 cm)