Description: One of a pair English creamware press-molded in high relief, cornucopia-shaped wall pockets decorated with border of acanthus leaves around the rim and coiling festoons around the body; over a relief-molded putti drinking from a jar and clasping a bunch of grapes over a quiver and flowers, one is emblematic of Autumn, on the right-curving horn, and the other putti holding a brazier of fire over a quiver and flowers, is emblematic of Winter, on the left curving horn. Fresh, dried and artificial flowers were commonly used as room decorations in the 18th centuries, and were displayed in pockets, flower bricks, vases, pots, and bowls. Wall pockets, which first appeared in China in the 17th century, reached the peak of their popularity in mid 18th century England. Wall pockets came in three basic shapes: faces (the incorporation of a human visage or grotesque mask in the design), balusters, and cornucopiae. Sold in pairs, they could be symmetrical or asymmetrical with left and right-handed shapes; examples such as this asymmetrical horn of plenty or cornucopia pocket were termed "flower horns" in 18th century documents. Wall pockets found their way to the American market in limited quantities, and advertisements for them in American newspapers are rare. William Ellery of Hartford advertised delft “flower horns” in the Connecticut Courant of November 5, 1771. The Ellery day books list sales of “1 pr. Large grane [green?] Flower horns” 6s to John Ledyard, Esquire on August 24, 1767, and another pair of “large Agle [angel or eagle?] flower horns” sold to him in May 10, 1768 for 4s 6p. As in this example, pockets were usually constructed of press-molded fronts joined to a flat, slab back, which was invariably pierced with two holes for hanging. Other examples of these creamware models are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Winter model illustrated in Lewis, Pratt Ware (1984), p. 104 and Manchester Museum of Art, no. 1923.843.
Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2006.33.101.2 |