Images(3)

Punch pot

Dateca. 1760

OriginEngland, Liverpool

MediumTin-glazed stoneware

DimensionsH (with lid): 7"; H (body): 6 1/4"; Length (with spout and handle): 10 1/2"; D (Body): 6 3/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1971-439,A&B

DescriptionOvoid stoneware pot with lightly curved spout, loop handle, and wide foot ring. Shallow cover with small mushroom knop. Bluish tin glaze with overall crazing on body decorated in blue with a Chinese landscape including pagodas; similar motifs on cover.
Label TextAn oversized teapot traditionally has been referred to as a punch pot, which was presumably used to serve a hot punch, but that term does not appear to have been used in the eighteenth century. The form may indeed be just a large pot for tea. This is the only punch pot recorded in tin-glazed stoneware. The harder body enabled a container to withstand hotter liquids.
ProvenanceGinsburg & Levy, Inc., New York