Water Ewer, White House Collection
This gilded silver water ewer was made by British silversmith Richard Sibley between 1817 and 1818. The neoclassical ewer was one of over 1,500 silver gilt, or vermeil, objects donated to the White House in 1956 by Margaret Thompson Biddle, a close friend of First Lady Mamie Eisenhower. Special cabinets to house the collection were built in a ground floor room of the White House, now known as the Vermeil or Gold Room. Two of these pitchers were included in the collection. This one features a male figure with a fish tail in place of legs on the top.