Images(3)

Sweetmeat Dish

Dateca. 1755

OriginEngland, London (probably)

MediumEarthenware, tin-glazed (delft)

DimensionsOverall: 5 x 7 1/4in. (12.7 x 18.4cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2011-7

DescriptionMultilevel sweetmeat dish consisting of three shell-shaped dishes clustered together surmounted by a single circular shell-shaped dish, which is supported by a column encrusted with molded decoration in the form of small shells and tubular coral. The whole supported by three flat-bottomed, conical feet. The shell-shaped dishes are outlined in cobalt blue on the rims and undersides and the centers are painted with floral sprays also in blue. The central shaft decorations are highlighted in blue as well.
Label TextThis form of sweetmeat dish is commonly known in English porcelain, but rare in tin-glazed earthenware. This example is an almost identical copy of an English porcelain version that we know was used in colonial America. The central fragment of a Bow porcelain sweetmeat dish was found archaeologically in Williamsburg at the site of the William Prentis House. This tin-glazed piece is an interesting counterpoint to the more common porcelain examples.
ProvenanceChristie's, New York: Syd Levethan: The Longridge Collection, 17th and 18th Century British Pottery. January, 2011.

Longridge Collection, Syd Levethan

Mark and Marjorie Allen, New Hampshire, 1996.