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Cream Pot

Dateca. 1760

OriginEngland, Birmingham (possibly) or South Staffordshire (probably)

MediumEnamel on copper

DimensionsOH: 3 ¾"; OW (handle to lip): 4 ¼"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2018-164

DescriptionOne of two English painted enamel cream pots with scalloped-rimmed and pear-shaped body covered allover with a white enamel ground. The exterior decorated with flower sprays and sprigs painted in enamel colors of green, pink, purple, red, blue, and black within three gilt rococo scroll-border reserves; pot supported on three splayed feet with gilded shell knee junctures; modified S-shaped handle of crimped design. The rim, feet pads, and handle picked out in gold.
Label TextPainted enamels were an important innovation of the eighteenth century. Using technologies perfected in the fused silver plate industry and decorative techniques already mastered by china and porcelain painters, painted enamel objects provided consumers with a fashionable alternative to grace their tea and dining tables. The fragile nature of the material makes this cream pot a rare survival, being one of only four examples currently known.