This sugar bowl, part of a three-piece tea service, is an exceptional example of silver in the Persian taste, popular in the United States in the 1870s and 1880s. Its intricate scheme of flowers, leaves, and geometric motifs, derived from patterns on Persian metalwares and ceramics, was achieved through chasing, a laborious and therefore expensive technique.

Adapted from

Charles L. Venable, Silver in America, 1840-1940: A Century of Splendor (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1994), 337.

Victoria and Albert Museum
Read "Style Guide: Influence of Islam."