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Posset pot: C.1504 & A-1928

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 27 (Glaisher)

Maker(s)

Factory: Brislington Pottery

Entities

Categories

Description

Tin-glazed earthenware posset pot and cover, painted in cobalt blue with Chinese figures and a stag in landscapes

Posset pot with cover and stand (see C.1504B-1928). Buff earthenware with very pale turquoise-green tin-glaze, painted in cobalt blue. The pot is bulbous, with wide neck and two handles branching into corkscrew coils and decorated with applied serpents; between them, on one side, is a sucking spout. On the cover, which is domed, is a knob in the form of an openwork globe with a bird perched upon it, flanked by handles similar to those on the pot. The pot and the circular stand each rest on three feet in the shape of small birds. The pot and the cover are painted with Chinese figures in landscapes, in the manner of late Ming porcelain; under the base the initials and date 'C T A 1685'. On the stand there is a man and woman in European dress drinking (perhaps intended as Lot and his daughters), with sun, moon and stars in the sky and the same initials and date '1686'.

Notes

History note: Purchased from Mr Stoner in London for £59 on 1 May 1917 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 31.1 cm
Width: 31 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Brislington ⪼ Somerset ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

17th Century, Late
Charles II
James II
Production date: dated AD 1685

Note

Previously uncertain whether the posset pot was Lambeth or Bristol. See Garner, 1972, in documentation, for attribution to Lambeth. See Archer, 2007 for attribution possibly to Brislington. The stand is catalogued separately because it has unrelated decoration, and may not originally have been with this posset pot.

School or Style

Baroque
Late Ming

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of high-temperature colour ( in blue)
Body
Knob
Serpents

Materials used in production

Tin-glaze
Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Tin-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: the T is raised above a dot

  • Text: C T A 1685
  • Location: Under base
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue
  • Type: Initials

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.1504 & A-1928
Primary reference Number: 72108
Old object number: 4859
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 27 November 2020 Last processed: Friday 16 February 2024

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Posset pot" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/72108 Accessed: 2024-03-29 08:47:57

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/72108 |title=Posset pot |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-03-29 08:47:57|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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