What-is-it question CXXIII.

Post by **2209patrick** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 4:09 pm

This silver item was made by Frederick Marquand of New York City. He worked 1826 - 1839.
It is 21.75 inches ( 55.25 cm.) long and 5.5 inches ( 14 cm.) wide.
What was it used for ?

Pat.
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wev · Post by **wev** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 4:56 pm

wine siphon
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wev · Post by **wev** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:03 pm

A "manual" version also by Marquand (private collection)

I know of at least two more in private collections that match yours, which I presume is from the Winterthur collection.[/url]
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Post by **2209patrick** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:28 pm

Well done Wev.

Yes, it's a wine siphon.
This one does come from the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum located in Winterthur, Delaware.

For those not familiar with these pieces.
Wine siphons were used to tansfer the wine to stylish decanters for table use.
They also minimized spillage and the transfering of sediment.

Pat.
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silvertt · Post by **silvertt** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:28 am

I have no doubt that the item is a wine siphon. My problem with it is that I decant wine for 3 reasons aeration, removal of sediment and presentation. Clearly the siphon achieves presentation, the removal of sediment is highly questionable and, since a siphon is fundamentally an air free system, it cannot achieve aeration. A wine funnel on the other hand achieves all three. Is it a 19th century example of a solution looking for a problem?
Regards,
Tony
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