Teapot
Dateca. 1740
OriginEngland, Staffordshire
MediumLead-glazed red-bodied earthenware (redware)
DimensionsOverall: 4 1/2 (handle to spout) × 10 13/16in. (top of handle) (11.4 × 27.5cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, C. Thomas Hamlin III Fund
Object number2020-37,A&B
DescriptionRaised conical foot supports a globular body with applied faceted spout and hand-rolled loop handle. Cover with inverted acorn knop. Body and lid with applied sprigs in white slip decorated with cobalt; the sprigs depicting two different birds, a flower, a four-legged animal, a teapot and cup on an early table, a kettle or cauldron, a coal grate, a woman sitting in a chair, and a figure of a person standing.Label TextDating to around 1740 this teapot is part of a group of lead-glazed refined earthenware objects with applied white slip sprigs, often referred to by collectors and dealers as “Astbury-type” ware because archaeology at the Staffordshire pottery of John Astbury revealed similar fragments. Subsequent digs in the Staffordshire region uncovered similar lead-glazed refined red-bodied wares made at several potteries in the Staffordshire region, however.
Fragments of this Staffordshire-made redware turn up throughout colonial America and, more specifically, in Williamsburg, Virginia, at various sites including Wetherburn's Tavern, Shields' Tavern, and the Thomas Everard house. Additionally, fragments have been recovered from at least one domestic site on the Eastern Shore.
Often, the sprigs on such objects depict the British royal coat of arms, birds, flowers, and/or people. However, this teapot includes onderful white slip sprigs decorated with cobalt that depict birds, people, a flower, and additional significant sprigs depicting various household furnishings including a teapot and cup on an early table, a coal grate, a pilgrim flask, a kettle or cauldron, and a chair (on which a woman sits).
