American silver at The Met

Begin with three objects, not the whole museum

The American Wing places silver alongside gold, glass and ceramics on the balconies of the Charles Engelhard Court.

In records checked on 7 November 2026, the three objects below were listed on view in Galleries 704 and 706.

Give yourself time to compare rather than collect names. Start with the outline, then the surface, then the label. Ask what each object was expected to do at a table and what it might have communicated about its owner. This is a suggested looking exercise, not a museum-prescribed route.

Revere: look for the patron’s choices

Paul Revere Jr.’s silver Tumbler of 1797, made in Boston, is a small starting point in Gallery 704 (58.3.1). The Met connects it to an order for Salem merchant Elias Hasket Derby. Revere made the cups to match French examples Derby already owned, marked by Paris silversmith Denis Colombier in 1789.

Look closely at the rounded body and engraved border. Consider how a commission to match an existing service changes your reading of a famous maker’s work. Which decisions belonged to the silversmith, and which were shaped by the customer? Note those questions alongside the maker and date.

Gorham: follow the elephant and the ornament

Gorham Manufacturing Company’s Centerpiece, made in Providence in 1881, combines silver and silver-gilt (2024.304, Gallery 706). The Met describes its elephant, elaborate textiles and adornments within nineteenth-century Western fascination with India and Asia. Arnold-family arms appear on the base; the museum treats ownership by retailer Richard Arnold as probable.

Follow the composition upward from the elephant’s feet. Where do detail and gilding draw your attention? Consider how it displays taste and status, while keeping the museum’s uncertainty about ownership in your notes.

Shreve: read the past in a modern bowl

Shreve & Company’s silver Bowl, made in San Francisco about 1910, belongs to its XIV Century pattern (2021.228.7, Gallery 706). The Met dates the pattern’s introduction to 1904 and links its historical craft references to Arts and Crafts taste. Applied geometric strapwork and circular nail heads interrupt the otherwise restrained surface.

Compare its rhythm with the Gorham centerpiece: where does each maker concentrate the decoration? The medieval-sounding pattern name makes a good reminder to separate a design’s reference period from an object’s manufacture date. Keep approximate dates approximate in your notes.

The official bowl record had no image when checked; use the object and its label if it is available during your visit.

Plan the visit and recheck the cases

Go to The Met Fifth Avenue, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York. Published hours are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday; Friday and Saturday extend to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and specified holidays are closed. Standard adult admission is $30. New York State residents and students in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have pay-what-you-wish eligibility with verification conditions.

Step-free entrances are at Fifth Avenue and 81st Street and through the garage at 80th Street. Manual wheelchairs are first-come, first-served at the 81st Street entrance. Use the museum’s accessibility guide and interactive map to plan a route that suits you.

Before a special journey, reopen the object records and gallery-closure page. The closure list checked for this guide did not include Galleries 704 or 706, but access can change. Collection photographs document objects; they do not establish what is in a case today. Save the three accession numbers so staff can identify exactly what you hope to see.