Few American examples of silver holloware in the Gothic Revival style of the 1840s have been recorded or published. Little is known about Zalmon Bostwick other than his listings as a silversmith in New York directories between 1842 and 1851.The prototype for the Bostwick pitcher was an English Staffordshire stoneware pitcher popular in the United States in the early 1840s, which included architectural details of Gothic arches.