3-015-853 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Assembled Tea Service, 1806/7. The sturdy, rounded shapes of the four vessels in this tea service, including a teapot, hot water jug, sugar bowl, and cream jug, were probably inspired by the forms of ancient Roman oil lamps. English silversmith Storr decorated several of the handles with acanthus leaves, a motif also adopted from classical antiquity. The service sits on an oblong tray made by William Bennett, inscribed with the Latin motto facta non verba, meaning "deeds, not words."