Images(3)

Advertising teapot

Date1785-1806

Owned by Richard Lucas Ely

Attributed to Swinton Pottery

OriginEngland, Yorkshire, Swinton

MediumEarthenware, lead-glazed (pearlware)

DimensionsOverall: 14 3/8 x 19 1/2in. (36.5 x 49.5cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2010-102,A&B

DescriptionThis large scale teapot, over fourteen inches tall, is decorated with high-temperature colors in red, green, yellow, and blue. On both sides of the pot contained within an oval surround are the words, "RICHARD LUCAS/Potter/ELY/Dealer in Glass China and/Earthen Ware/WHOLESALE and RETAIL." The sides of the spout and body of the pot are further embellished with floral sprays. The rim of the pot and the lid are painted with a wide band of decoration including a yellow ground with a fish scale pattern in brown.
Label TextThis lovely china glaze or pearlware teapot made about 1800 by the Swinton Pottery in Yorkshire, England is decorated with cobalt blue and so-called high temperature colors. These distinctive shades of yellow, green, brown, and orange were developed during the late eighteenth century. The side is inscribed in script with an advertisement, "Richard Lucas / Potter / ELY / Dealer in Glass China and / Earthen Ware / WHOLESALE and RETAIL." Ely is a city in Cambridgeshire, England. While the inscription seems to suggest that Lucas was a potter, this teapot has been attributed, based on decoration and construction, to the Swinton Pottery in Yorkshire. In this instance the term "potter" may refer to a location within Ely, either Potter Street or Potter Lane. What is particularly remarkable about this teapot is its size. It measures over nineteen inches tall and more than fourteen inches long. Large ceramic objects of this type were essentially trade signs. This teapot was likely displayed in Lucas's shop window in the hopes of attracting the attention of passersby.
Inscribed"RICHARD LUCAS / Potter / ELY / Dealer in Glass China and / Earthenware / WHOLESALE and RETAIL"
ProvenancePurchased from Rob Hunter, Yorktown, Virginia
Acquired by Rob Hunter at Northeast Auctions, August 7, 2010, Lot 537
Previously in the collection of Marcus Austin and Jill R. Fine