Description:
English creamware press-molded, cauliflower cream pot decorated with green glaze, attributed to William Greatbatch (1735-1813), which is part of a probably assembled set consisting of a teapot, coffeepot, cream pot, tea canister and waste bowl. Greatbatch was a well-known Staffordshire potter, who had also worked for Thomas Whieldon and Josiah Wedgwood. The interest in the rococo style manifested itself in ceramics by embracing a naturalistic style for tablewares. Inspiration for these ceramics were drawn from fruit and vegetables such as apples, pears, cauliflowers, pineapples, and melons, which were favored by the Connecticut River Valley gentry during the third quarter of the 18th century. Samuel Boardman of Wethersfield and William Ellery of Hartford, Connecticut, were among the Valley merchants who imported these wares from New York ceramic merchants starting before 1770. The merchant, Samuel Smith of Farmington, Conn., described a cauliflower teapot as a "Califlower T Pot." The lower half of the body in green has four distinctly molded long leaves alternating with stylized linear molding, above which, on the body, spout and lid, is the white cauliflower design. The handle, with a center rib and diagonal slashes on the sides, has a S-shape with leaf and scroll terminals. There is a slightly indented foot rim. The body has been once fired and then painted with clear and colored glazes. Josiah Wedgwood I is best known for his classically-inspired wares. However, in his early manufacturing days Josiah, in common with many other Staffordshire based ceramic manufacturers, produced exceptionally ornamental, rococo-style wares inspired by fruit and vegetable forms. Wedgwood used an earthenware body that could be naturalistically modelled or moulded into these forms. The lower part of the cauliflower ware was crafted to closely resemble leaves and was then covered with a brilliant green glaze. The cauliflower ‘head’ was glazed cream or yellow. William Greatbatch, the Staffordshire potter, supplied Wedgwood with models for such wares. Josiah also produced melon and pineapple wares, and the green glaze used to decorate these lifelike items is thought by many to have been developed by Wedgwood himself. In the early years, Josiah Wedgwood exported a great deal of what he called ‘colley-flower’ wares to Europe, particularly the Netherlands. Ceramic retailers, such as Samuel Tabor in Rotterdam, frequently wrote to Wedgwood at his Brick House Works in Burslem, requesting fine goods such as ‘…Lanskip, pineapple, Colleflower &c but these must be in setts…’ From time to time, throughout Wedgwood’s history, these naturalistic wares have experienced revivals. The Barlaston factory last produced ranges of cauliflower wares in the 1950s. At that time, other traditional forms and patterns were also being revived after the decorating restrictions in the ceramic industry were lifted after the end of World War II.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+56.088B |
