Tureen

Date1755-1770

MediumStoneware, salt-glazed, white

DimensionsOverall: 13 1/16 x 9 3/8 x 10 13/16in. (33.2 x 23.8 x 27.5cm) (Height is with lid)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1952-264,A&B

DescriptionA white salt-glazed stoneware tureen and cover. A) Tureen of oval bulbous form with slightly spreading lip, pair of scroll handles with central shell motif, and spreading footring. Body molded in relief with central horizontal rope band which seperates matching decoration of eight panels of basket-dot-diaper flanked by feathery scrolls and seperated by areas of basketwork. Same pattern repeated on footring. B) Cover of oval dome-shape, with underdecorated socket, flange and central medallion. Medallion is oval disk for applied finialin bombe form with spreading base, basket-work molded sides, four petal-like tips, and pagoda top. Finial hollow with steam hole that extends through cover.
Label TextSoup tureens were the largest components of a dinner service. References to tureens in inventories are numerous; spelling variations include “turene,” “teuren,” “treen,” and “tureene.” They are most often listed alone, although some individuals, such as Gustavus Brown of Charles County, Maryland, owned examples en suite with dishes or matching stands. Typically, the designs on stoneware soup tureens correspond to popular plate motifs, with variants of basket-dot-diaper -- such as this one -- and gadroon being especially prevalent among examples recovered from archaeological sites. Numerous versions of the former pattern have been excavated in Williamsburg, most supported on three feet and at least one with a less-typical pedestal base. Among tureens with gadrooning, an unusual model with pendant strings of beading on the lid and body was excavated from the Nicolson/Pasteur-Galt site.
MarkingsNone.
ProvenancePurchased from Mrs. Henry A Hoffman, Litchfield, CT.

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