Description:
Shallow bowl, with applied footrim, the body is thrown and lathe turned, sponged iron oxides have been placed on the once-fired creamware body, during the glaze firing the metallic oxide runs to form a surface decoration resembling tortoiseshell. This teacup HD 2025.6.2.1 may not be original with the saucer HD 2025.6.2.2.
Label Text:
Earthenware forms inspired by fruits, vegetables, and natural materials (such as tortoiseshell) were extremely popular in England throughout the 1760s and into the next decade. They were produced by numerous potters including Josiah Wedgwood. These wares were their response to the fashionably naturalistic creations of the Chelsea and Longton Hall porcelain factories and more broadly to the current taste for such forms, which were characteristic of the rococo style. Handles and spouts were often created as bent twigs or branches often called “crabstock” style. Molded flowers, vines, or leaves often decorate these vessels. These body types and forms would have been available to middle class residents of the Connecticut River Valley. These ceramics were brought from either New York or Boston china and glass dealers such as Ebenezer Bridgham and Frederick Rhinelander. The ceramics continued to be popular in the Valley into the 1770s, far beyond their fashion heyday in urban areas. On September 1, 1778, Josiah Blakeley advertised in the Connecticut Courant (Hartford, CT): "A general assortment of Crockery Ware by Wholesale of Retail consisting of … coli flower, cream colour, melon and black Tea Pots; cream colourd green, and turtle shell Cream Cups….” The 1770 probate inventory for Timothy Woodbridge of Hatfield, MA, listed "1/2 Set Turtle Shell Tea Dishes" for 1 shilling.
Subjects:
Pottery; glaze (coating by location) Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2025.6.2.1 |
