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Octagonal Vegetable Dish

Date1827-1838

Maker Tucker Porcelain Manufactory (1826-1838)

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumHard-paste porcelain

DimensionsOH: 6 9/16" (with cover); OL: 9 7/8"; OW: 10"

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Edna and Ms. Wendy Tucker in memory of their husband and father, Edward Bolton “Teddy” Tucker, M.B.E.

Object number2020-456,a&b

DescriptionMolded covered vegetable dish: stepped octagonal foot rises to octagonal slightly convex octagonal body of tappering form that rises to a wide everted rim indented to receive the cover. The conforming octagonal domed lid is topped by a wide octagonal pedestal, from which emerges a hemispherical finial supported by a waisted stem. The top of the finial is molded with six acanthus leaves radiating from a central flower. There are remnants of gilt bands around the foot, the rim of the dish, the outer edge and shoulder of the cover, and the edge of the stepped pedestal on the cover. The finial shows signs of having been entirely gilt.
Label TextWilliam Ellis Tucker (1800-1832) opened a porcelain factory in Philadelphia in 1826 with the goal of supplying the United States with American-made porcelain equal to that being imported from France and England. After initial successes creating pitchers, Tucker soon expanded his offerings to include dinner and tea sets that closely imitated French and English designs.

A surviving receipt for an order likely placed by members of William’s extended family records this octagonal covered dish, which along with the rest of the dinner and dessert service, was “to be White and Gold.” The manufactory drew its inspiration for the Neoclassical form and gilt band decoration of this dish from trends in porcelain imported from France and England. The Tucker family cherished the costly service and passed it down through the generations.

The Virginia Tuckers are one branch of the family that owned pieces from William’s factory. Ann Evelina Tucker (1789-1855), wife of Henry St. George Tucker (1780-1848) and daughter-in-law to St. George Tucker of Williamsburg, documents the “Tucker china” in her will.

MarkingsIncised script "K" to underside of base.
ProvenanceDescended through the Tucker family, gift of Edna G. Tucker and Wendy S. Tucker.