Liscum Bowl
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The Liscum Bowl is a
sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...
punch bowl A punch bowl or punchbowl is a bowl, often large and wide, for serving mixed drinks such as hippocras, punch (drink), punch or mulled wine, with a Ladle (spoon), ladle.''The Language of Drink'' Graham and Sue Edwards 1988, Alan Sutton Publishi ...
set made in 1902 from
bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...
gifted to the 9th Infantry Regiment by order of Chinese statesman
Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901) was a Chinese statesman, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in importan ...
in gratitude for the Americans' assistance to the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
in the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
. The bowl was dedicated to Colonel Emerson H. Liscum, the regiment's commander killed at the
Battle of Tientsin The Battle of Tientsin, or the Relief of Tientsin, occurred on 13–14 July 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion in Northern China. A multinational military force, representing the Eight-Nation Alliance, rescued a besieged population of foreign n ...
on 13 July 1900. The punch bowl, among the largest of its kind, is described by the U.S. Army as "one of the foremost trophies of any American regiment." For many years, it was on display in the 2nd Infantry Division Museum in Korea, where it was the most valuable item in the collection, worth upwards of $2.5 million. In 2018, the Liscum Bowl was moved to
Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso, Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo, Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont, and Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano counties, Color ...
,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
.


Details

The silver set includes the bowl, the ladle, the tray and several dozen cups, and stylistically is of the late
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
. The set weighs and the bowl is 2'4" in diameter, 3'3" from handle to handle and is 1'9" in height. It has a capacity of approximately 15 gallons. The ladle is 2'1½" in length. The four handles consist of four Imperial dragons peering over the edge of the bowl, a design suggested by the regiment. A report on the Liscum Bowl in a 1920 issue of ''The Jewelers' Circular'' journal described it as such: "The chasing and repoussé work in intertwined dragons, the same forming the four handles on the outside of the big bowl, on the immense heavy ladle, which holds nearly a pint, are said to be excellent examples of the best work of this kind in Japan." The bowl is engraved with the name of Colonel Liscum and the date of his death, which established a tradition. The silver cups bear the engraved names of all officers who served with the Regiment in Asia between 1900 and the Korean War.


History

The United States was part of the
Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which were being besieged by the popular Boxer ...
formed in response to the violent anti-foreign and
anti-Christian Anti-Christian graffiti from the Alexamenos graffito">Alexamenos worships his god.") Anti-Christian sentiment, also referred to as Christianophobia or Christophobia, is the fear, hatred, discrimination, or prejudice against Christians and/or asp ...
uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, and was known as the
Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...
, Boxer Uprising or Yihequan Movement. The United States, Great Britain, France, Imperial Russia and Imperial Japan were among the nations that sent armies to China to protect their citizens and merchants from attacks by the "Boxers." Several thousand members of the 9th Infantry Regiment, along with a few hundred Marines, were the only Americans deployed to China. Colonel Emerson H. Liscum was the commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment. During the
Battle of Tientsin The Battle of Tientsin, or the Relief of Tientsin, occurred on 13–14 July 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion in Northern China. A multinational military force, representing the Eight-Nation Alliance, rescued a besieged population of foreign n ...
to retake control of the city on 13 and 14 July 1900, Liscum was mortally wounded by a Boxer sniper while the regiment attacked the city walls. Liscum directed his forces to "Keep up the fire!" on the walls of the city before he died. Liscum's famous last words were adopted as the regiment's official motto. After the fall of the city, it was divided into different districts controlled by the members of the Eight-Nation Alliance. With parts of the city still burning, looting and "official seizures" of property and valuables were occurring. On 15 July, two days after the fall of Tianjin, a government mint full of silver bullion and coins was discovered in a burned building in the American sector. The mint was immediately placed under guard by the 9th Infantry, and its contents were estimated at $376,000 (equivalent to approximately $ in dollars). However, when the bullion was removed from the mint, the heat from the fire had caused several of the bars to fuse together, resulting in large molten masses of silver. Two of these misshapen formations were the last to be rescued from the mint. The last two molten formations, weighing a combined , were later presented to the 9th Infantry Regiment by order of Chinese statesman
Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901) was a Chinese statesman, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in importan ...
, as an expression of appreciation from the Qing government to the regiment for their actions in helping retake the city and protecting the mint's contents from pillage. The regiment's officers held an informal meeting on what to do with the fused silver and decided to construct a legacy trophy in the form of a punch bowl. Before the regiment departed Beijing, Chinese silversmiths constructed from part of the silver. After the regiment returned to the Philippines in April 1902, the remainder of the fused silver was sent to
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
, Japan, care of Arthur & Bond Company, a fine arts gallery and manufacturer that catered mainly to foreigners and English expatriates. Japanese silversmiths working for the company spent eight months creating the ornate bowl, the ladle and the circular tray, based on the specific instructions forwarded by the regiment. The set was completed on 2 November 1902. It first went on display in the window of Arthur & Bond Company, and the ladle was stolen. Part of the ladle was quickly recovered from the thief, who had managed to break off part of it and sell it. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. It was repaired and the set was sent to the United States, transported by a U.S. cruiser via the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
and finally presented to the regiment at
Madison Barracks File:Madison Barracks.jpg File:Madison Barracks02.jpg File:Madison Barracks Stone Tower.jpg File:Madison Barracks Stone Tower 02.jpg Madison Barracks was a military installation established in 1813 or 1815 at Sackets Harbor that was built for oc ...
, New York, in April 1903. Over the years, the Liscum Bowl traveled with the regiment and went on display for many years. It was stored in a vault at a San Antonio bank during World War I and World War II. In 2003, it underwent much needed restoration work at Creative Metalworks in Maryland, which described its condition: "One hundred years after its creation, the bowl was in dire need of restoration: dented, crushed and battered, full of lead solder from poorly executed prior repairs, and missing talons and other segments of the ornate dragons." After a thorough restoration, the Liscum Bowl was on display at the
US Army Center of Military History The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the A ...
in Washington, D.C. It was returned to Korea in 2006, where it resided at the
Camp Red Cloud Camp Red Cloud (CRC, ) was a United States Army camp located in the city of Uijeongbu, between Seoul and the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). CRC was transferred to the South Korean government in February 2022. The installation was renamed after ...
museum for 12 years. In 2018, the Liscum Bowl was permanently moved to
Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso, Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo, Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont, and Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano counties, Color ...
, Colorado. Col. Liscum had spent time in
Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...
prior to the Boxer Rebellion. It was unveiled in an official ceremony, where one of Col. Liscum's descendants spoke.


References

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External links


Creative Metal Works: The Liscum Bowl Restoration process
1902 in Japan Silver objects Drinkware Boxer Rebellion