- John Hardman & Co was an important 19th century Birmingham manufacturer of metalwork and stained glass
- The sugar bowl was one of eight items commissioned as wedding presents by Charles Lygon Cocks
- The acquisition was made possible with the support of Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Art Fund and Ivan Witton Bequest.
Image credit: Birmingham Museums Trust
Birmingham Museums is delighted to announce that a silver sugar bowl produced by one of the most important Birmingham manufacturers of the 19th century has been acquired for the city’s collection.
The acquisition was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Art Fund and the Ivan Witton Bequest.
The decorated bowl was designed and made in 1870 by John Hardman & Co at their factory in Birmingham. The company specialised in metalwork and stained glass and although best known for their work for churches and public buildings they also made many items for domestic and personal use.
It was one of eight objects commissioned by Charles Lygon Cocks (1821-1885), an army officer and repeat customer of John Hardman & Co, for his friends and family to gift to him as wedding presents.
The sugar bowl, purchased by his sister for £10, is inscribed on the base with ‘The gift of Jemima A Cocks to Charles Lygon Cocks on his marriage 1870’. It also bears the inscription ‘Home content ye sweete of lyfe’ in Gothic lettering.
Only five of the items commissioned for Cocks’ wedding have been traced. The acquisition of the sugar bowl means that four of these items are now in the Birmingham collection. The fifth item is in private ownership.
An extensive archive of designs by John Hardman & Co is cared for by Birmingham Museums Trust. The archive includes a sketch of the sugar bowl in the warehouse book for 1870, which is a visual record of all the objects the firm designed and made that year.
Sara Wajid and Zak Mensah, co-chief executives at Birmingham Museums Trust, said:
“We are delighted to have acquired this sugar bowl by the renowned firm John Hardman & Co for the Birmingham collection.
“It is now reunited with the mustard pot, pepper pot and teapot which Cocks also ordered for his marriage in 1870, along with a cream jug from 1851 and coffee pot from 1860, all of which are already in the city’s collection.
“We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Art Fund and the Ivan Witton Bequest for making this acquisition possible with their generous support.”
