Description:
English delft flower brick decorated in blue with crudely drawn flowers on both the side and ends. The exact use of these containers has been debated for many years. It has been suggested that these bricks could have served as quill holders and inkwells; however, the fact that they often occur in pairs would seem to undermine this theory. Most likely these vessels were used for the display of dried flowers since the containers show little evidence of holding water, exhibiting no mineral deposits. Flowers were commonly used room decorations in the 17th and 18th centuries, and were displayed in flower bricks, vases, pots, and bowls. Unfortunately, pictorial sources demonstrating the use of these objects are rare. Michael Archer has identified a chimney board in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection with a painted image of a bombé-shaped container filled with flowers. The dearth of flower bricks in any other media suggests that their manufacture may have been limited to delftware. The top has a large square hole in the center and two sets on three holes on each side outlined with lines and crosses; the base is flat. The owner's label on the base reads "A- 475/1CS", and small label reads "1420".
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2002.68.7 |
