Silver Frog Latticework Charger

The New York Botanical Garden in association with Lunt Silversmiths, a leader in innovative silver design, has developed a distinctive collection of tableware, decorative accessories, and gifts inspired by some of the finest examples of botanical art in the Rare Book Collections of the Garden’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library. Combining beautiful botanical imagery with a modern sensibility, these exquisitely crafted pieces are objects to be treasured as heirlooms.

The stylish silver plate latticework charger is inspired by ornamental garden bridge designs for European gardens in William Halfpenny’s Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste, published in London in 1752. It features an etched frog detail from illustrations by 18th-century British naturalist Mark Catesby in his well-known work, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands (London: 1754). Measuring 14” in diameter, it also functions as a small serving tray. Used as a charger, it offers a whimsical surprise under a dinner plate.