DS1985-793
Shown:1984-162,1A&B and 1984-162,2

Teapot and stand

Date1780-1800

Artist/Maker Richard Pitt

MediumPewter

DimensionsOH: 4 3/8"; OL: 9 3/8"; OW: 3 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1984-162,1A&B

DescriptionTeapot: Oval in plan with flat oval lid with circular shaft rising from molded base with oval wooden finial secured by pewter rivet; straight-sided bezel on underside of lid with cut-out area to fit over retaining plate; oval, straight-sided pot with beaded molding at top and bottom edges and narrow collar inside at top to support lid; front third of lid opening covered by plate which prevents spillage while pouring; wall of pot pierced with ten circular holes near base at one end to allow flow into tapered cylindrical spout; tow handle sockets opposite spout secure fruitwood handle of loop form with scrolled finger-grip.
Label TextRichard Pitt was the principal London maker of tea wares in the early neoclassic taste. Especially conspicuous among his surviving work is a group of remarkable oval teapots and tea caddies that were cast in apparently interchangeable molds (see also CWF teapot 1984-294 and CWF tea caddy 1985-61). A variation of this oval teapot and stand with reeded, rather than beaded, borders and a short, wide central foot to the stand was formerly in the collection of Richard Mundey, London. Pitt's work is cast, unlike that of James Vickers and other early Britannia metal makers, who tended to fashion bodies of geometric form, such as oval or cylindrical, out of rolled sheet (see CWF accessions 1999-54, 1-2 and 1999-25).
InscribedOwner's cipher "EC" engraved on side of body in center
MarkingsNo touch mark apparent. Pseudo hallmarks (1) lion passant, (2) leopard's head, (3) buckle, and (4) "R-P" within separate shaped rectangles on undersides of teapot, lid, and stand (Cotterell 3697).
ProvenanceVendor: Richard Mundey, London.