Images(11)

Sugar Dish

Date1816 - 1820

Attributed to David Seixas

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumLead-glazed earthenware (green-glazed cream-colored earthenware / Philadelphia Queensware)

DimensionsOH: 5 11/16" (with lid); H: 5" (without lid); OL: 6 3/16"; OW: 4 9/16".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, James S. Lawrence

Object number2022-68,A&B

DescriptionSugar Dish: refined earthenware boat-shaped sugar dish molded ensuite with cream jug 2022-67; slightly stepped foot supports oval body that rises to a boat-shaped gallery in which sits a removable lid; the body molded with three bands of a sawtooth and diamond pattern and a sawtooth band at the high shoulder; the lid with a sawtooth band and a central flower knop; vertical seam lines visible at each of the two ends of the oval shaped body; the entire object covered in emerald green.
Label TextPhiladelphia was a hub for American manufacturing in the early 19th century. In the midst of trade tariffs and bans on the importation of British goods surrounding the War of 1812, Philadelphia potters sought to fill the need for refined wares often closely mimicking Staffordshire pottery products. This molded cream jug and sugar dish are examples of such objects that aped popular British earthenwares of the same period. The likely manufacturer of these pieces, David Seixas, was a New York-born businessman of Sephardic Jewish descent who moved from New York City to Philadelphia in the early 19th century in order to pursue his career as an agent of Harmon Hendricks’ metal trading venture. (Hendricks was very involved in the copper-rolling mill industry.) After several years working for Hendricks selling sheet metal, Seixas set out on his own, first producing crucibles and then expanding into the production of refined earthenwares such as this pitcher. Green-glazed wares can be attributed to his manufacturing endeavors. A philanthropic businessman, Seixas went on to establish the Philadelphia Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb (later, Pennsylvania School for the Deaf). A similar sugar dish is illustrated in Deborah Miller’s article “The Search for the Green-Glaze Potter of Philadelphia” which appears in the 2019 issue of the journal Ceramics in America, pp. 2-25 (see figure 8, p 9, for same molded decoration).