A large and elaborate silver vase was presented by the members of the U.S. Life-Saving Service to Mrs. Samuel S. Cox in honor of the outstanding work of her husband, who as a congressman supported various bills for the improvement of the Service. Mr. Cox served as Congressman for 20 years, first from Ohio and later from New York State. He died in New York City in 1889. Two years later General Superintendent S. I. Kimball, in behalf of a committee representing the Service, presented the vase to Mrs. Cox. The ceremony took place at Mrs. Cox’s home in Washington on December 12, 1891, in the presence of a gathering of relatives and friends.
The vase[23] is 2 feet tall and 2 feet 1 inch in diameter; it weighs almost 8 pounds. Its design was selected by a subcommittee appointed by the Life-Saving Service, and the job was awarded to the Gorham Silver Company. The chasing is entirely the work of one man. The base of the vase has a design of clusters of acorns and oak leaves, and above these are dolphins sporting in billowing waves. The body of the vase 98 begins with wide flutings between the tops of which are shells and seaweed. These are surrounded by a ring of marine cable. On the front, a scene represents the lifesavers at work. In perspective some distance out, where the sea rises in mountainous waves, there is a wrecked vessel, and in the foreground lifesavers are carrying the rescued to the beach. The ornamentation that covers the top of the body of the vase consists of a cable net in which are starfish, seaweed, and other marine flora and fauna. A ledge formed by a ship’s chain surmounts the net, and above this is a profile of Mr. Cox circled with laurel. A lifebuoy crossed with a boat hook and oar ornaments the other side. Handles at the sides are two mermaids who with bowed heads and curved bodies hold in their upraised hands sea plants growing from the side of the top of the vase. The mermaids are the only portion of the ornamentation that was cast.
The vase is inscribed as follows:
This Memorial Vase is presented to Mrs. Samuel S. Cox by the members of The Life-Saving Service of the United States in Grateful Remembrance of the tireless and successful efforts of her Distinguished husband The Honorable Samuel Sullivan Cox to promote the interests and advance the efficiency and glory of the Life-Saving Service.
He was its early and constant friend; Its earnest and eloquent advocate; Its fearless and faithful Champion.
I have spent the best part of my life in the public service; most of it has been like writing in water. The reminiscences of party wrangling and political strife seem to me like nebulae of the past, without form and almost void. But what little I have accomplished in connection with this Life-Saving Service is compensation “sweeter than the honey in the honeycomb.” It is its own exceeding great reward.[24]
Tangible evidence of the increased role that the United States was beginning to play in international affairs is a silver pitcher and salver[25] presented to Judge George S. Batcheller in appreciation of his services as president of the International Postal Congress, which was held in Washington, D.C., in 1897. Judge Batcheller’s international career began when President Ulysses Grant appointed him as the U.S. judge in the newly created International Tribunal for legal administration of Egypt. The Tribunal had jurisdiction in cases between foreigners of different nationalities and also in cases of foreigners versus Egyptians. Batcheller later served as minister to Portugal and then as manager of European interests for various American companies.
The International Postal Congress presented Judge Batcheller, its presiding officer, with a handsome urn-shaped pitcher with the following inscription engraved on the center front:
Le Congrès postal de Washington à son Président le Général George S. Batcheller Juin 1897.
The pitcher, 141⁄4 inches high, is marked inside the base “Galt & Bros., Sterling, 925––0––1879, 277, 71⁄2 pts.” The “925” is circled, and the date is boxed. Accompanying the pitcher is a silver tray with the monogram “G S B” in script in the center. The tray is marked on the back with an eagle in a circle to the left, an “A” in a shield in the center, and a hammer and sickle in a circle to the right (an unidentified mark).