Description:
Tureen and Stand, unmarked, possibly Josiah Wedgwood and Sons (1759 to present), Staffordshire, England, ca. 1770s. Lead-glazed, cream-colored earthenware (creamware), incised mark on the underside of the lid: “76”. Tureen with tent shape form with curled edges, decorated with a multi-pine cone finial, entwined vine handles on the sides, molded shell shapes on the side, flaring foot with shell molding, sits on a lozenge-shaped stand decorated with shells.
Label Text:
In accordance with the practice of dining à la française, dishes were brought to the table, used to serve individual courses, and then removed following each course. Two varieties of soup, including a “clear” and “thick soup,” were commonly served during the meal’s first course. Advice manuals recommended that hosts place their soup tureens at either end of the table or in the center, thereby rendering them visible for all to see. With its well-modeled Rococo-style form, delicately twisted handles, and artichoke finial, this tureen served as an eye-catching centerpiece and added to the beauty and decoration to the table. Although this tureen and stand are not marked, they relate to other creamware examples produced by Josiah Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), who took his inspiration for these pieces from a Sèvres porcelain dinner service gifted to the wife of the 4th Duke of Bedford by King Louis XV in 1763. How Wedgwood gained access to the service—located at the Duke’s country estate, Woburn Abbey—is not entirely clear, though he seems to have known the Duke’s brother-in-law through his earlier work on the Trent and Mersey Canal. In 1765, Wedgwood took patterns from the Sèvres service, as noted in one letter: I have been three days hard & close at work takeing [sic] pattns [patterns] from a set of French China at the Duke of Bedford’s worth at least £1500, the most elegant things I ever saw, & am this evening to wait & be waited upon by designers, modelers & c. Wedgwood’s creamware version of the Bedford Sèvres soup tureen stand is virtually identical to those in the service. However, Wedgwood’s design for the soup tureen itself differs markedly from the Sèvres originals – probably due to manufacturing losses which would have resulted from the challenging design. The only similar aspects are small details such as the artichoke finial on the lid and the delicate loop handles on the sides.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2023.17.1 |
