Teapot
Date1790-1810
MediumDry-bodied burnished earthenware (Egyptian black / black basalt)
DimensionsOverall: 3 5/16 × 3 1/2 × 7 1/4in. (8.4 × 8.9 × 18.4cm)
Credit LineGift of Tom and Trudy Moyles
Object number2022-35,a&b
DescriptionTeapot: black basalt or Egyptian black oval teapot with slightly bulbous or swelled body, leafy laurel border to top edge; stepped flared foot; the body engine-turned in a block pattern; the top also carved or engine-turned with the same pattern; the top rising to a short reeded gallery in which the matching engine-turned lid sits; lid with mushroom knop with central steam hole; applied molded rectangular ear-shaped handle with lower c-scroll is opposite the molded and applied sloped and swelled spout with five-beads at the top of the tip; ball-shaped grate on the interior of the teapot at the body juncture.Label TextFrequently called black basalt -- Wedgwood's patented period term for the material -- many other potteries copied the black dry-bodied burnished ware, and it was often referred to as "Egyptian black" in period recipes, newspapers, and invoices. Black basalt and Egyptian black wares were popular in America during the period and are recorded in the documentary evidence and recovered archaeologically throughout the young United States.
