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Teapot: EC.25 & A-1938

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Object information

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Pottery: Unidentified Staffordshire Pottery

Entities

Categories

Description

Salt-glazed stoneware painted in enamels with a turquoise blue ground and floral decoration om reserves

White salt-glazed stoneware painted overglaze in blue, green, pink, yellow and black enamels. The bulbous hexagonal body has an s-curved spout and a loop handle; on the lid is a twidyrf ribbed handle. The body and spout are moulded with serrated-edge leaves in relief. Sprigged to the body on either side of the handle are additional moulded vine leaves and grape-bunches. The teapot is painted in a bright sky blue except for the vine leaves, which are green, the grapes, which are purplish-pink, and the almost round reserves on each side of the teapot. The reserves have a dark purplish-pink border and contain, on one side of the teapot, a spray of flowers and, on the other, a vase of flowers. Two similar flower-filled, purplish-pink-bordered reserves decorate the lid.

Notes

History note: Formerly in the collection of J. Henry Griffiths; later in the collection of Wallace Elliot and purchased by the Fitzwilliam Museum on 20 May 1938 as Lot.94 in at the Wallace Elliot sale, Sotheby’s, from the Glaisher Fund

Legal notes

Purchased from the Glaisher Fund.

Measurements and weight

Width: 17.5 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bought (1938-05-20) by Sotheby's

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
George II
George III
Circa 1755 CE - Circa 1765 CE

Note

The use of a coloured ground around a central reserve is designed to imitate the decoration of contemporary European porcelain. The bright sky blue colour used on this teapot emulates the famous ‘bleu céleste’ ground colour introduced by the Vincennes porcelain manufactory in 1753, although the coverage is not as even or as neat as was achieved by the French porcelain manufacturers. English potters produced salt-glazed stoneware, a relatively cheap product, in imitation porcelain, a very expensive one, in order to meet the demand of the middle classes. In the 18th-century there was a large, aspiring middle class in England, who wanted to emulate the habits of the gentry, including the elaborate social ritual of tea-drinking, but could not afford the luxury European and Oriental porcelain teawares used by the wealthy.

School or Style

Rococo

Components of the work

Body With Lid Height 10.1 cm
Body Without Lid Height 9.5 cm
Vine-leaves

Materials used in production

turquoise-blue, green, pink, purplish-pink, yellow and black enamels Enamels
white Stoneware
Salt-glaze

Techniques used in production

Press-moulding : Press-moulded stoneware body, with applied moulded handle and spout and sprigged vine reliefs, salt-glazed and painted overglaze in turquoise-blue, green, pink, purplish-pink, yellow and black enamels
Painting overglaze
Salt-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: stick-on white paper collector's label with brown border and printed with a brown elephant head

  • Text: No.5 SALT-GLAZED PERIOD iii 1741-1760
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Handwritten in black ink
  • Type: Label

Inscription present: stick-on white paper collector's label with brown border and printed with a brown elephant head

  • Text: No.5 SALT-GLAZED PERIOD iii 1741-1760
  • Location: Inside lid
  • Method of creation: Handwritten in black ink
  • Type: Label

Inscription present: stick-on circular paper label

  • Text: J. HENRY GRIFFITH'S/COLLECTION printed round the edge, and ? 178 in the middle in pencil
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Handwritten in pencil with printed blue text in border
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: EC.25 & A-1938
Primary reference Number: 76918
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 22 February 2022 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

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) "Teapot" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/76918 Accessed: 2024-11-21 18:51:35

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/76918 |title=Teapot |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-21 18:51:35|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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