Domestic Furnishings

Washboards, armchairs, lamps, and pots and pans may not seem to be museum pieces. But they are invaluable evidence of how most people lived day to day, last week or three centuries ago. The Museum's collections of domestic furnishings comprise more than 40,000 artifacts from American households. Large and small, they include four houses, roughly 800 pieces of furniture, fireplace equipment, spinning wheels, ceramics and glass, family portraits, and much more.

The Arthur and Edna Greenwood Collection contains more than 2,000 objects from New England households from colonial times to mid-1800s. From kitchens of the past, the collections hold some 3,300 artifacts, ranging from refrigerators to spatulas. The lighting devices alone number roughly 3,000 lamps, candleholders, and lanterns.

Patent model (U.S. Patent No. 34,726) of a portable bake oven, made by George W. Ayres of Rahway, NJ, and patented on March 18, 1862.
Description
Patent model (U.S. Patent No. 34,726) of a portable bake oven, made by George W. Ayres of Rahway, NJ, and patented on March 18, 1862. Consists of a double-shelled, round-arched body with door at one end on a flat, hollow base containing two furnaces or fireboxes with perforated sides, one running the width of each end, and a diagonal reflector between them. The inner shell is a flue surrounding the oven with two chimneys of smoke pipes. The outer shell is an insulating cavity to be filled with sand; openings for filling and emptying its contents are at the middle of each side. No marks on object, but paper tags tied with red wove ribbon to one smoke pipe and stored with object are printed and handwritten with patent information and object numbers.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1862-03-18
patent date
1862-03-18
inventor
Ayers, George W.
ID Number
DL.251517
accession number
48890
patent number
34726
catalog number
251517
Electric percolator, green molded plastic body and lid, with removable interior metal (aluminum) parts. Pitcher, (A), straight sides, flared bottom, pointed handle, long, pointed, pocket spout opposite, two prong plug underneath handle, no cord attached or accompanying.
Description
Electric percolator, green molded plastic body and lid, with removable interior metal (aluminum) parts. Pitcher, (A), straight sides, flared bottom, pointed handle, long, pointed, pocket spout opposite, two prong plug underneath handle, no cord attached or accompanying. Printed in serif and sans serif on front: “OSTER/INSULATED”. “OSTER” oval logo embossed on bottom, underneath embossed: “8 CUP AUTOMATIC/ELECTRIC PERCOLATOR/SERVICE NO./600 WATTS/120 VOLTS/A.C. ONLY/MODEL 622/ALWAYS START WITH COLD WATER/DO NOT IMMERSE BASE IN WATER/DO NOT PLUG IN DRY/JOHN OSTER MANUFACTURING CO./MILWAUKEE, WIS./PATENT NO. D207332”
Lid, (B), is circular, flat, with separate pointed finial in center, clear plastic. Flanged bottom edge.
Bowl, (C) aluminum, cylindrical, flat bottom, with small holes throughout, center column for aluminum main shaft (E). Cover, (D) aluminum, for (C), concentric ribs and holes on top. Coffee grounds would sit inside (C).
US D207332 S, April 4, 1967, John Oster Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for “Coffee percolator”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1967
maker
John Oster Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1988.0076.08
accession number
1988.0076
catalog number
1988.0076.08
Single-reeded circular dish with flat well incised at perimeter; no foot ring.
Description
Single-reeded circular dish with flat well incised at perimeter; no foot ring. Underside struck twice with faint rose-and-crown touchmark for Henry Will (only part of crown visible) above pseudo hallmarks, only two of four visible: Britannia or Columbia seated and a leopard's head, both in clipped-corner rectangles; a sword or elongated cross shape stamped in small chevrons is between them.
Maker is Henry Will (circa 1735-1802), working in New York, NY, 1761-1775 and 1783-1793; and Albany, NY, 1775-1783 (fled there at the outset of the Revolution). His father John Will (1696-1774) , who emigrated from Neuwied, Germany and worked in New York, 1752-1774, as well as his brothers Philip (also worked in New York City and Philadelphia, 1763-1787), and William (worked in Philadelphia, 1764-1798), were also pewterers. Henry Will stopped using the rose-and-crown touch upon moving back to New York City after the Revolution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1756 - 1783
1761 - 1783
ID Number
1986.0027.11
catalog number
1986.0027.11
accession number
1986.0027
Slightly tapered, copper-bottom pail with conical liner; large, U-shaped, triangular spout opens to space between liner and pail. Wire bail handle has black-painted wood grip; flat cover is topped by a button knop.
Description
Slightly tapered, copper-bottom pail with conical liner; large, U-shaped, triangular spout opens to space between liner and pail. Wire bail handle has black-painted wood grip; flat cover is topped by a button knop. Pail is made in five pieces with three vertical folded seams; spout is soldered in place and flat bottom has folded edge. No marks.
The double-wall construction of this pail allows the outer section to be filled with water which can then be heated to keep the contents in the inner container warm.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th or early 20th century
ID Number
DL.257491.0094
catalog number
257491.0094
accession number
257491
Set of six dinner knives (1986.531.162-.167) in light brown flannel carrying pouch with individual pockets for each knife (1986.531.247). Straight silver-plated steel blade with rounded tip and “yankee” style bolster fitted into tapered ivory handle with rounded sides and butt.
Description
Set of six dinner knives (1986.531.162-.167) in light brown flannel carrying pouch with individual pockets for each knife (1986.531.247). Straight silver-plated steel blade with rounded tip and “yankee” style bolster fitted into tapered ivory handle with rounded sides and butt. Tang is held in place with single steel pin through side of handle. Blade is scratched, plate is worn, tarnished. Ivory is yellowed, cracked, and crazed.
Blade is stamped: “LAMSON & GOODNOW MFG Co/S. FALLS WORKS”
Maker is Lamson & Goodnow Company, a manufacturer and wholesaler active in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts 1844-present.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860- 1880
maker
Lamson & Goodnow
ID Number
1986.0531.162
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.0531.162
Cast, spade-shaped trivet with long hanging handle; design features a fylfot in circle at center with compasses and square at toe and the roman letters "D S" flanked by sprigs of leaves and curved hearts across bottom. Three D-section legs. Groove around perimeter; no railing.
Description
Cast, spade-shaped trivet with long hanging handle; design features a fylfot in circle at center with compasses and square at toe and the roman letters "D S" flanked by sprigs of leaves and curved hearts across bottom. Three D-section legs. Groove around perimeter; no railing. No other marks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1830 - 1850
ID Number
1978.0939.038
accession number
1978.0939
catalog number
1978.0939.038
Small, heart-shaped padlock with steel shackle, locking mechanism and small key with double circle opening in oval bow. Front of body is stamped incuse "M. W. & CO" in arched roman letters above keyhole. Alms box and padlock DL*245425.0078-.0079 were used together.
Description

Small, heart-shaped padlock with steel shackle, locking mechanism and small key with double circle opening in oval bow. Front of body is stamped incuse "M. W. & CO" in arched roman letters above keyhole. Alms box and padlock DL*245425.0078-.0079 were used together. Maker is Mallory Wheeler & Co., a lock and hardware manufacturer in New Haven, CT, 1834-1913.

Collection boxes have been used for centuries to solicit money for religious institutions and charities. Even those with little to spare might contribute coins anonymously to a strategically placed box. Unfamiliar in some American communities in the 1700s, these boxes became more commonly used in the United States in the 1800s.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1834 - 1913
ID Number
DL.245425.0079
catalog number
245425.0079
accession number
245425
Two-handled, squat baluster-shape bowl with cast floral rim and sprig decoration on its body in imitation of bright-cut engraving; flat bottom. C-curve handles have scrolled acanthus sprigs and conical struts.
Description
Two-handled, squat baluster-shape bowl with cast floral rim and sprig decoration on its body in imitation of bright-cut engraving; flat bottom. C-curve handles have scrolled acanthus sprigs and conical struts. Bottom underside struck incuse with a horizontal-banded circular mark for "BRISTOL (arched) / PLATE CO. (across center in band) / U.S.A. / QUADRUPLE PLATE (curved)" in sans serif letters above "357". From a four-piece tea service, DL*66.0275-.0278.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
ID Number
DL.66.0277
catalog number
66.0277
accession number
263347
Plain, cylindrical container with raised bead below collar and a flat, friction-fit cover. Cover and container have vertical soft-soldered lapped seams, while cover top and flat bottom are folded over sides. No marks. Traces of blue japanning on exterior.Currently not on view
Description
Plain, cylindrical container with raised bead below collar and a flat, friction-fit cover. Cover and container have vertical soft-soldered lapped seams, while cover top and flat bottom are folded over sides. No marks. Traces of blue japanning on exterior.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850 - 1875
ID Number
DL.251349.0009
catalog number
251349.0009
accession number
251349
Life-size, pale yellow berry, probably a strawberry; truncated cone shape with dimpled top surface and rough underside.Currently not on view
Description
Life-size, pale yellow berry, probably a strawberry; truncated cone shape with dimpled top surface and rough underside.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1864 - 1865
ID Number
DL.60.0252.19
catalog number
60.0252.19
accession number
67038
The earliest domestic clocks in the American colonies were English-made "lantern" clocks, with brass gear trains held between pillars.
Description
The earliest domestic clocks in the American colonies were English-made "lantern" clocks, with brass gear trains held between pillars. Along with fully furnished "best" beds, looking glasses, sofas, silver, and case furniture, such clocks were the household objects consistently assigned the highest monetary value in inventories of possessions.
By the 18th century, the most common style of domestic clock came to look more like a piece of household furniture. A wooden case enclosed the movement, weights, and pendulum. Through a glass window the dial was visible.
In 1769, Pennsylvania clockmaker and millwright Joseph Ellicott completed this complicated tall case clock. On three separate dials, it tells the time and shows the phases of the moon; depicts on an orrery the motions of the sun, moon, and planets; and plays selected twenty-four musical tunes on the hour.
The musical dial on the Ellicott clock allows the listener to choose from twelve pairs of tunes. Each pair includes a short tune and a long one. On the hour only the short tune plays, but every third hour, both play. During a tune, automaton figures at the top of the dial appear to tap their feet in time to the music, and a small dog between them jumps up and down.
Joseph Ellicott moved from the Philadelphia area to Maryland in 1772 and, with his brothers Andrew and John, set up a flour-milling operation in what is now Ellicott City. The clock was a centerpiece in Ellicott family homes for generations.
Who else owned clocks in early America? Clock owners, like the American colonists themselves, were not a homogeneous group. Where a person lived influenced the probability of owning a timepiece. In 1774, for example, New Englanders and Middle Atlantic colonials were equally likely to own a timepiece. In those regions, roughly 13 or 14 adults out of 100 had a clock in their possessions when they died. Among Southern colonists at that time, only about 6 in 100 had a clock.
Date made
1769
user
Ellicott, Joseph
maker
Ellicott, Joseph
ID Number
1999.0276.01
accession number
1999.0276
catalog number
1999.0276.01
Single-reeded circular dish with shallow flat well faintly scored around perimeter; no foot ring.
Description
Single-reeded circular dish with shallow flat well faintly scored around perimeter; no foot ring. Well underside struck with six marks, twice with lion-in-scrolls touch mark of Edward Danforth above four pseudo-hallmarks (left to right): initials "E•D", spreadwing eagle facing left, single star inside circle of twelve stars, and dagger or sword pointing up, all in flat-top, shaped-bottom shield. Possible repair or damage at center of well (almost appears to be five obliterated marks on underside).
Maker is Edward Danforth (1765-1830) of Middletown and Hartford, CT; active, 1786-1799. Apprenticed with his father, Thomas Danforth II (1731-1782), and then his brothers Joseph and Thomas Danforth in Middletown; relocated in 1786 to Hartford, where, after 1799, he did more business as a general merchant, selling wares by Samuel Danforth and Thomas Danforth Boardman, than as a pewterer.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1785 - 1790
1786 - 1799
ID Number
1986.0027.38
catalog number
1986.0027.38
accession number
1986.0027
Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900).
Description
Before becoming an international phenomenon, the Arts and Crafts movement began with the ideas of British artisan William Morris (1834-1896) and writer John Ruskin (1819-1900). Morris and Ruskin believed that the growth of cities isolated urban workers and that mass production negatively affected artisan crafts. They proposed to solve these issues by returning to a medieval-inspired village model where everybody participated in a community lifestyle. In the United States, artisans adapted these ideas into the studio art pottery movement. Unlike their British counterparts, who often focused predominantly on social issues and therefore made objects that incorporated Gothic and Renaissance motifs, American craftsmen developed a cohesive and novel aesthetic.
Rookwood developed a matte glaze around 1900 to compete with the forest-green hues of the popular Grueby Faience Company. Unlike Grueby’s glaze, which appears waxy and leafy, Rookwood’s interpretation often uses pastel tones with a vellum-like finish. The transition from Rookwood’s earlier “standard glaze” (a deep mahogany brown color gradating into yellow) showcases how competitive ceramics companies were able to preserve their art pottery production while keeping up with changing trends. Rookwood’s vellum glaze in particular helped the company win a Grand Prize at a 1904 international competition and was the company’s last internationally-recognized glaze.
Collectors often refer to vases decorated in this fashion as “Scenic Vellums” because of their glaze and depiction of romanticized landscapes. Decorator Edward George Diers painted this vase with a delicate birch pattern, alluding to the American art deco preference for linear decoration and stylized natural motifs. Records show that Diers began working for Rookwood as a decorator and designer in 1894. He left the company in 1931 – the same year he decorated this vase.
Rookwood developed a matte glaze around 1900 to compete with the forest-green hues of the popular Grueby Faience Company. Unlike Grueby’s glaze, which appears waxy and leafy, Rookwood’s interpretation often uses pastel tones with a vellum-like finish. The transition from Rookwood’s earlier “standard glaze” (a deep mahogany brown color gradating into yellow) showcases how competitive ceramics companies were able to preserve their art pottery production while keeping up with changing trends. Rookwood’s vellum glaze in particular helped the company win a Grand Prize at a 1904 international competition and was the company’s last internationally-recognized glaze.
Collectors often refer to vases decorated in this fashion as “Scenic Vellums” because of their glaze and depiction of romanticized landscapes. Decorator Edward George Diers painted this vase with a delicate birch pattern, alluding to the American art deco preference for linear decoration and stylized natural motifs. Records show that Diers began working for Rookwood as a decorator and designer in 1894. He left the company in 1931 – the same year he decorated this vase.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1931
maker
Rookwood Pottery
ID Number
CE.393622
catalog number
393622
accession number
208838
Most stoneware pottery produced in the South before about 1890 iscovered with alkaline glazes made from local materials.Based on lime or wood ash, these glazes often fired to a green or brown color, typical of 19th-century southern stoneware.Although this piece was found in Ports
Description
Most stoneware pottery produced in the South before about 1890 is
covered with alkaline glazes made from local materials.
Based on lime or wood ash, these glazes often fired to a green or brown color, typical of 19th-century southern stoneware.
Although this piece was found in Portsmouth, New Hampshire it shares some characteristics of early southern face vessels.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
mid 19th century
delete
delete
date made
mid- 19th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
CE.392525
catalog number
392525
accession number
196885
Straight steel blade with rounded tip. Blade and rectangular bolster are one piece of steel with tang fitted into a tapered ivory handle with straight sides and rounded butt. Metal has minor discoloration, some residues on blade. Ivory is yellowed.
Description
Straight steel blade with rounded tip. Blade and rectangular bolster are one piece of steel with tang fitted into a tapered ivory handle with straight sides and rounded butt. Metal has minor discoloration, some residues on blade. Ivory is yellowed. Blade stamped: “PRATT ROPES WEBB&Co / AMERICAN CUTLERY”. With matching fork, 1986.0531.114.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1846 - 1855
ID Number
1986.0531.113
accession number
1986.0531
catalog number
1986.531.113
Colored print of a view of Boston with Boston Common in the foreground and the bay in the background. Houses, churches, warehouses and industrial buildings are depicted. The bay is filled with sailing ships.
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a view of Boston with Boston Common in the foreground and the bay in the background. Houses, churches, warehouses and industrial buildings are depicted. The bay is filled with sailing ships.
Date made
1850
maker
Bachmann, John
Sarony & Major
ID Number
DL.60.3745
catalog number
60.3745
Black and white print; half length portrait of a man (R. Walsh Jr.) with his head resting on his hand and his elbow resting on an open book.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; half length portrait of a man (R. Walsh Jr.) with his head resting on his hand and his elbow resting on an open book.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
maker
Sully, Thomas
Childs, Cephas Grier
ID Number
DL.60.3135
catalog number
60.3135
accession number
228146
Large, two-handled, repousse chased oblong tray with raised well featuring a lion at center amidst large symmetrical flowering scrolls resting over a shield engraved with a heraldic device or achievement of arms.
Description
Large, two-handled, repousse chased oblong tray with raised well featuring a lion at center amidst large symmetrical flowering scrolls resting over a shield engraved with a heraldic device or achievement of arms. Four lion's masks are at centers of the wide angled sides, separated by cornucopias and matching flowering scrolls. High-relief floral bracket handles are attached by threaded posts secured with rosette-shaped nuts through the gadrooned rim. Obverse left end is struck below rim to left of handle "(A?)+C" in raised roman letters in a clipped-corner rectangle, its left end overstruck by an illegible mark, and with a crown above "NAP / ▪ 92 ▪" in an octagon or clipped-corner square. Reverse scratched "59"9(?)" at center of shield; a series of numbers and letters are inscribed in black along top right of center.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1692
ID Number
DL.69.0360
catalog number
69.0360
accession number
282998
TITLE: Meissen: Part of a tea service (Hausmalerin)MAKER: Meissen ManufactoryPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain, hard paste (overall material)MEASUREMENTS: Tea bowls: H. 1¾" 4.5 cmChocolate cup: 3⅛" 8 cmSaucer: D. 5⅛" 13.1 cmTeapot: H.
Description
TITLE: Meissen: Part of a tea service (Hausmalerin)
MAKER: Meissen Manufactory
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain, hard paste (overall material)
MEASUREMENTS: Tea bowls: H. 1¾" 4.5 cm
Chocolate cup: 3⅛" 8 cm
Saucer: D. 5⅛" 13.1 cm
Teapot: H. 5" 12.8 cm
OBJECT NAME: Part of a tea service
PLACE MADE: Meissen, Saxony, Germany
DATE MADE: 1730
SUBJECT: The Hans Syz Collection
Art
Domestic Furnishing
Industry and Manufacturing
CREDIT LINE: Hans C. Syz Collection
ID NUMBER: 1987.0896. 34 A,B; 36 a,b; 37 a,b
COLLECTOR/ DONOR: 227 A,B; 228 a,b; 229 a,b
ACCESSION NUMBER:
(DATA SOURCE: National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center)
MARKS: Crossed swords in underglaze blue, except chocolate cup, which is unmarked.
PURCHASED FROM: Minerva Antiques, New York, 1943.
Thw teapot is from parts from a tea service in the Smithsonian’s Hans Syz Collection of Meissen Porcelain. Dr. Syz (1894-1991) began his collection in the early years of World War II, when he purchased eighteenth-century Meissen table wares from the Art Exchange run by the New York dealer Adolf Beckhardt (1889-1962). Dr. Syz, a Swiss immigrant to the United States, collected Meissen porcelain while engaged in a professional career in psychiatry and the research of human behavior. He believed that cultural artifacts have an important role to play in enhancing our awareness and understanding of human creativity and its communication among peoples. His collection grew to represent this conviction.
The invention of Meissen porcelain, declared over three hundred years ago early in 1709, was a collective achievement that represents an early modern precursor to industrial chemistry and materials science. The porcelains we see in our museum collections, made in the small town of Meissen in Germany, were the result of an intense period of empirical research. Generally associated with artistic achievement of a high order, Meissen porcelain was also a technological achievement in the development of inorganic, non-metallic materials.
The parts of this tea service were made in the Meissen manufactory but painted outside by independent artists. Hausmalerei is a German word that means in literal translation ‘home painting’, and it refers to the practice of painting enamels and gold onto the surface of blank ceramics and glass in workshops outside the manufactory of origin. Beginning in the seventeenth century the work of the Hausmaler varied in quality from the outstanding workshops of Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Breslau (now Wroclaw in Poland), to the less skilled efforts of amateur artists. Early Meissen porcelain was sought after for this purpose, and wealthy patrons of local enameling and gilding workshops purchased undecorated porcelain, often of out-moded or inferior quality, which was then enameled with subjects of their choice. Hausmalerei was at first acceptable to the early porcelain manufactories like Meissen and Vienna, and Meissen sent blank porcelain to Augsburg workshops for decoration, but as the market became more competitive they tried to eradicate the practice. It was a temptation for Meissen porcelain painters to take on extra work as Hausmaler to augment their low pay, and the manufactory cautioned or even imprisoned them if Hausmalerei activity was suspected or discovered.
The tea service was painted in Augsburg in the 1720s.Two hundred years earlier Augsburg was the center of international merchant banking, and it is no coincidence that it was also a center for goldsmithing work of exceptional quality. Although no longer a powerful city in the eighteenth century, Augsburg was still renowned for its high quality artisan trades in precious metals, book production, and textiles. Hausmalerei was one among many subsidiary trades that met demands from other workshops, individual clients, and new manufactories like that of Meissen.
This Meissen tea service was probably painted by Anna Elizabeth Wald (b. 1696), and perhaps by her sister Sabina Hosennestel (1706-1782) as well. The two women were the daughters of the gold worker and Hausmaler Johann Aufenwerth (d.1728) but it is difficult to distinguish their styles one from the other. Another sister, Johanna Warmberger (1693-1772), also worked in the family business. The sisters specialized in decorative gilding and enamel painting of chinoiseries like the images seen here of two gentlemen smoking and taking tea in a garden.
Sabina Hosennestel married the tradesman and coffee-house owner, Isaac Hosennestel in 1731. It is thought that some of the porcelain vessels painted by the Aufenwerth sisters were intended for use in the coffee-house alongside Chinese and Japanese imported porcelain, especially the tea bowls. There were five other coffee-houses in Augsburg in the first half of the eighteenth century.
Other pieces from this service are in the Forsythe Wickes Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (inv. Numbers 65.2076-65.2080).
Ducret, S., 1971, Meissner Porzellan bemalt in Augsburg, 1718 bis um 1750, Band 1 Goldmalereien und bunte Chinoiserien.
On Hausmaler see Ulrich Pietsch, 2011, Early Meissen Porcelain: The Wark Collection from The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, pp. 43-46.
Hans Syz, J. Jefferson Miller II, Rainer Rückert, 1979, Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection: Meissen Porcelain and Hausmalerei, pp. 506-507.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
ca 1720-1725
1720-1725
maker
Meissen Manufactory
ID Number
1987.0896.37ab
catalog number
1987.0896.37ab
accession number
1987.0896
collector/donor number
229
TITLE: Meissen: Part of a tea service (Hausmalerin)MAKER: Meissen ManufactoryPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain, hard paste (overall material)MEASUREMENTS: Tea bowls: H. 1¾" 4.5 cmChocolate cup: 3⅛" 8 cmSaucer: D. 5⅛" 13.1 cmTeapot: H.
Description
TITLE: Meissen: Part of a tea service (Hausmalerin)
MAKER: Meissen Manufactory
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain, hard paste (overall material)
MEASUREMENTS: Tea bowls: H. 1¾" 4.5 cm
Chocolate cup: 3⅛" 8 cm
Saucer: D. 5⅛" 13.1 cm
Teapot: H. 5" 12.8 cm
OBJECT NAME: Part of a tea service
PLACE MADE: Meissen, Saxony, Germany
DATE MADE: 1730
SUBJECT: The Hans Syz Collection
Art
Domestic Furnishing
Industry and Manufacturing
CREDIT LINE: Hans C. Syz Collection
ID NUMBER: 1987.0896. 34 A,B; 36 a,b; 37 a,b
COLLECTOR/ DONOR: 227 A,B; 228 a,b; 229 a,b
ACCESSION NUMBER:
(DATA SOURCE: National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center)
MARKS: Crossed swords in underglaze blue, except chocolate cup, which is unmarked.
PURCHASED FROM: Minerva Antiques, New York, 1943.
These tea bowlsare from parts of a tea service in the Smithsonian’s Hans Syz Collection of Meissen Porcelain. Dr. Syz (1894-1991) began his collection in the early years of World War II, when he purchased eighteenth-century Meissen table wares from the Art Exchange run by the New York dealer Adolf Beckhardt (1889-1962). Dr. Syz, a Swiss immigrant to the United States, collected Meissen porcelain while engaged in a professional career in psychiatry and the research of human behavior. He believed that cultural artifacts have an important role to play in enhancing our awareness and understanding of human creativity and its communication among peoples. His collection grew to represent this conviction.
The invention of Meissen porcelain, declared over three hundred years ago early in 1709, was a collective achievement that represents an early modern precursor to industrial chemistry and materials science. The porcelains we see in our museum collections, made in the small town of Meissen in Germany, were the result of an intense period of empirical research. Generally associated with artistic achievement of a high order, Meissen porcelain was also a technological achievement in the development of inorganic, non-metallic materials.
The parts of this tea service were made in the Meissen manufactory but painted outside by an independent artist. Hausmalerei is a German word that means in literal translation ‘home painting’, and it refers to the practice of painting enamels and gold onto the surface of blank ceramics and glass in workshops outside the manufactory of origin. Beginning in the seventeenth century the work of the Hausmaler varied in quality from the outstanding workshops of Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Breslau (now Wroclaw in Poland), to the less skilled efforts of amateur artists. Early Meissen porcelain was sought after for this purpose, and wealthy patrons of local enameling and gilding workshops purchased undecorated porcelain, often of out-moded or inferior quality, which was then enameled with subjects of their choice. Hausmalerei was at first acceptable to the early porcelain manufactories like Meissen and Vienna, and Meissen sent blank porcelain to Augsburg workshops for decoration, but as the market became more competitive they tried to eradicate the practice. It was a temptation for Meissen porcelain painters to take on extra work as Hausmaler to augment their low pay, and the manufactory cautioned or even imprisoned them if Hausmalerei activity was suspected or discovered.
The tea service was painted in Augsburg in the 1720s.Two hundred years earlier Augsburg was the center of international merchant banking, and it is no coincidence that it was also a center for goldsmithing work of exceptional quality. Although no longer a powerful city in the eighteenth century, Augsburg was still renowned for its high quality artisan trades in precious metals, book production, and textiles. Hausmalerei was one among many subsidiary trades that met demands from other workshops, individual clients, and new manufactories like that of Meissen.
This Meissen tea service was probably painted by Anna Elizabeth Wald (b. 1696), and perhaps by her sister Sabina Hosennestel (1706-1782) as well. The two women were the daughters of the gold worker and Hausmaler Johann Aufenwerth (d.1728) but it is difficult to distinguish their styles one from the other. Another sister, Johanna Warmberger (1693-1772), also worked in the family business. The sisters specialized in decorative gilding and enamel painting of chinoiseries like the images seen here of two gentlemen smoking and taking tea in a garden.
Sabina Hosennestel married the tradesman and coffee-house owner, Isaac Hosennestel in 1731. It is thought that some of the porcelain vessels painted by the Aufenwerth sisters were intended for use in the coffee-house alongside Chinese and Japanese imported porcelain, especially the tea bowls. There were five other coffee-houses in Augsburg in the first half of the eighteenth century.
Other pieces from this service are in the Forsythe Wickes Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (inv. Numbers 65.2076-65.2080).
Ducret, S., 1971, Meissner Porzellan bemalt in Augsburg, 1718 bis um 1750, Band 1 Goldmalereien und bunte Chinoiserien.
On Hausmaler see Ulrich Pietsch, 2011, Early Meissen Porcelain: The Wark Collection from The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, pp. 43-46.
Hans Syz, J. Jefferson Miller II, Rainer Rückert, 1979, Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection: Meissen Porcelain and Hausmalerei, pp. 506-507.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
ca 1720-1725
1720-1725
maker
Meissen Manufactory
ID Number
1987.0896.34
catalog number
1987.0896.34
accession number
1987.0896
collector/donor number
227A
Black and white print; bust portrait of a man (Henry Inman). Facsimile of sitter's signature is below the image.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; bust portrait of a man (Henry Inman). Facsimile of sitter's signature is below the image.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Inman, Henry
maker
Prevost, Victor
Nagel, Louis
original artist
Lazarus
ID Number
DL.60.3127
catalog number
60.3127
accession number
228146
Black and white print; oval bust portrait of a man (Alois Senefelder).Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Black and white print; oval bust portrait of a man (Alois Senefelder).
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
n.d.
depicted
Senefelder, Alois
maker
Waldeck, Franz
ID Number
DL.60.3124
catalog number
60.3124
accession number
228146
Black and white print of a small town in hilly wooded area.
Description (Brief)
Black and white print of a small town in hilly wooded area.
Date made
1853
associated date
1853
maker
Britton & Rey
artist
Goddard, George Henry
ID Number
DL.60.3817
catalog number
60.3817
Color print of two steamboats (the "Diana" and the "Baltic") travelling at full speed with smoke pouring from their double stacks. Other steamboats are in the background and a flatboat with several men is in the right foreground.
Description (Brief)
Color print of two steamboats (the "Diana" and the "Baltic") travelling at full speed with smoke pouring from their double stacks. Other steamboats are in the background and a flatboat with several men is in the right foreground.
Date made
1859
maker
Fuller, George F.
Weingartner, Adam
ID Number
DL.60.3292
catalog number
60.3292

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