Charles Louis Boehme
Soup Tureen
1794-1804
Physical Qualities
Silver, 13 1/4 x 18 1/4 x 10 1/2 in. (33.7 x 46.4 x 26.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Virginia P.B. White, Baltimore
Object Number
1933.54.42
Devoid of superfluous ornament, this magnificent soup tureen relies on simplified lines and large reflective surfaces for its powerful visual impact. A cast finial on the lid replicates the tureen in miniature. A study in sumptuous simplicity, the tureen is one of the finest known examples of early Maryland silver. Sadly for the corpus of Baltimore Federal silver, the talented Charles Louis Boehme gave up silversmithing sometime around 1812 to pursue other interests.
Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1933; Virginia Purviance Bonsal White (1869-1955), Baltimore, MD
Goldsborough, Jennifer Faulds. "Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Maryland Silver in the Collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art." Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1975. p. 82, ill. p. 83.
Goldsborough, Jennifer Faulds. "Silver in Maryland", Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1983. p.84, ill.
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Celebrating a Museum. Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014.
Benskin, Elizabeth, and Suzy Wolffe. "Teacher's Guide to the American Collection". Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014, pages 33 and 40.
David Zimmerman, "The bouillabaisse of design influences on an early American silver soup tureen" in The Magazine Antiques, May/June 2017, accessed online: https://www.themagazineantiques.com/article/the-bouillabaisse-of-design-influences-on-an-early-american-silver-soup-tureen/
Markings: etched by hand: [107 o 10 b / 200 WV ] written by hand in black oil pencil: [24] stamped with maker's mark - "Boehme" in cursive (2x) above hallmark is stamped eagle w/outstretched wings, head facing proper right; shield in front of body, clutching arrows in Proper Left talon and olive branch in Proper Right talon
On View at the BMA
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