This elegant coffee pot was made by Filippo Pacetti, a renowned silversmith active in the mid-nineteenth century in Rome, combining functionality, technical mastery and formal symbolism in its barrel-like structure and zoomorphic handle. The handle in the form of a snake recalls archaic symbology related to knowledge, rebirth, and transformation.

The design reflects the romantic-neoclassical tendency of the period to invest even everyday objects with allegorical significance. A similar model is preserved in the Fornari collection, Rome. 

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Filippo Pacetti (Roma, 1772 – 1857)
“Cask-shaped” coffee pot
Rome, first half 19th c.
Chased and embossed cast silver, 16 (h) cm
On the underside, silversmith’s hallmark