Description:
In the early 19th century owning and displaying a delicately potted and handsomely decorated English tea set was an ideal many Americans could now afford. This yellow-glazed tea service with transfer-printed maternal domestic scenes exemplifies the type of status symbol with classical overtones that graced many American parlors. The sweetly portrayed scenes of mother and child are typical of numerous prints inspired by Adam Buck's drawings. Situated in the St. Anthony's District of Newcastle, this old-established firm came under the ownership of Joseph Sewell in about 1804. Under his skilled leadership it prospered and eventually produced some of the finest and most elegant of all of the Newcastle pottery wares. Donkin was a prominent solicitor and Councillor, whose name is included in the mark SEWELL & DONKIN on some of the wares. Sewell and Donkin wares were marked more often than most. St. Anthony's seems to have been one of the few potteries that used wood engravings for their transfer printing. Examples of their work feature the engravings of Thomas Bewick. Circular, shallow saucer with footrim; covered all over with yellow lead glaze; transfer printed over the glaze with red enamel, the image depicted based on an Adam Buck design, it shows a fashionable woman in classical dress seated on a recamier sofa with a young child at the end of the sofa, they are both winding thread, impressed mark on underside of saucer, "SEWELL/4". Condition: There are four hairline cracks around the rim. There is a chip out of the rim that has been filled and painted.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2017.5.19.5 |
