Domestic Furnishings

Tiffany Floor Lamp

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.

Resource Type: Bowls (vessels)

Cut Glass Bowl

From its founding in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution was assumed to be the keeper of the national collections, although the "United States National Museum" did not emerge as a formal entity until 1858.
Description
From its founding in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution was assumed to be the keeper of the national collections, although the "United States National Museum" did not emerge as a formal entity until 1858. Natural history and anthropology artifacts were the focus of the Museum's earliest collecting efforts, but by the late 19th century the Museum was collecting household goods, manufactured for the American and European market, that demonstrated technological and artistic advances in a wide range of industries. Between 1885 and 1920, American glass companies played an important role in building the new collections by donating examples of their currently fashionable glassware.
T. G. Hawkes & Company of Corning, New York, donated examples of their work to the Museum in 1917 and 1918, showcasing their rich or brilliant-cut glass. This bowl, donated by the firm in 1917, is cut and engraved, but also mounted in sterling silver—a newly fashionable style at the time.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1917
maker
T. G. Hawkes & Co.
ID Number
CE.1287ab
accession number
61165
catalog number
1287ab

Bowl

This creamware bowl is decorated with a variety of transfer prints. Printed on the inside of the bowl is a portrait (mis)labeled “Commodore Parry” surrounded by an American flag, a shield, and an Indian.
Description
This creamware bowl is decorated with a variety of transfer prints. Printed on the inside of the bowl is a portrait (mis)labeled “Commodore Parry” surrounded by an American flag, a shield, and an Indian. The interior edge of the bowl has 3five prints of naval and military instruments. Four prints decorate the outside of the bowl. The first print is a portrait of Benjamin Franklin wearing his famous beaver cap. Rococo flourishes flank the portrait with Franklin’s name and titles within the banners: “Benj.n Franklin LLD FRS.” The portrait of Franklin on this bowl is based on the 1777 drawing by French artist Charles Nicolas Cochin. Below the portrait is written, “Born at Boston in New England 17 Jan. 1706.” Second, is a portrait of George Washington dressed in his uniform that he wore as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The print of Washington included on this bowl is copied from an engraving based on Pierre Eugene Du Simitière’s portrait of Washington executed in 1779. On both sides of the print are banners accented with Rococo-style flourishes. Included within the banners is the title “HIS EXCELLENCY / GENERAL WASHINGTON.” The other two prints are generic scenes of courtship. It is interesting to note that Commodore Perry is misidentified as “Parry.” The misspelling of certain names and states was a repeated error in creamware pitchers of this time period, likely due to their British origin. Robert H. McCauley received this bowl as a gift from Daisy D.D. Whipple on June 8, 1963.
This pitcher is part of the McCauley collection of American themed transfer print pottery. There is no mark on the pitcher to tell us who made it, but it is characteristic of wares made in large volume for the American market in both Staffordshire and Liverpool between 1790 and 1820. Pitchers of this shape, with a cream colored glaze over a pale earthenware clay, known as Liverpool type, were the most common vessels to feature transfer prints with subjects commemorating events and significant figures in the early decades of United States’ history. Notwithstanding the tense relationship between Britain and America, Liverpool and Staffordshire printers and potters seized the commercial opportunity offered them in the production of transfer printed earthenwares celebrating the heroes, the military victories, and the virtues of the young republic, and frequently all of these things at once.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.63.119
catalog number
63.119
accession number
248619
collector/donor number
63-385

Bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
William Adams & Sons
ID Number
CE.62.934I
catalog number
62.934I
accession number
171126

Bowl

This small creamware bowl is decorated with a number of black transfer prints. The central image depicts a chain of fifteen links with a state name on each link, Kentucky and “Tenassee” share a link. The chain surrounds the Great Seal of the United States.
Description
This small creamware bowl is decorated with a number of black transfer prints. The central image depicts a chain of fifteen links with a state name on each link, Kentucky and “Tenassee” share a link. The chain surrounds the Great Seal of the United States. On the inside edge of the bowl are four prints of naval and military instruments. Around the outside of the bowl are four prints, a profile portrait of George Washington, a portrait of Benjamin Franklin wearing his famous beaver cap, and two generic prints depicting shepherds and a courtship vignette. The print of Washington included on this bowl is copied from an engraving based on Pierre Eugene Du Simitière’s portrait of Washington executed in black lead on February 1, 1779. The portrait of Franklin on this bowl is based on the 1777 drawing by French artist Charles Nicolas Cochin. This is one of the most famous portraits of Franklin. Both of Franklin’s titles are included here. LLD signifies him as a Doctor of Law and FRS signifies him as a Fellow of the Royal Society due to his scientific discoveries. Robert H. McCauley purchased this bowl from Dr. Emmert C. Stuart of Winchester, VA on December 1, 1940 for $75.00.
This bowl is part of the McCauley collection of American themed transfer print pottery. There is no mark on the bowl to tell us who made it, but it is characteristic of wares made in large volume for the American market in both Staffordshire and Liverpool between 1790 and 1820. Ceramics of this style, with a cream colored glaze over a pale earthenware clay, known as Liverpool type commonly featured transfer prints with subjects commemorating events and significant figures in the early decades of United States’ history. Notwithstanding the tense relationship between Britain and America, Liverpool and Staffordshire printers and potters seized the commercial opportunity offered them in the production of transfer printed earthenwares celebrating the heroes, the military victories, and the virtues of the young republic, and frequently all of these things at once.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.63.160
catalog number
63.160
accession number
252565
collector/donor number
398

Meissen rinsing bowl (part of a service)

TITLE: Meissen: Parts of a tea and coffee serviceMAKER: Meissen ManufactoryPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)MEASUREMENTS: Coffeepot: H.9¼" 23.5cmMilk jug: H. 6" 15.3cmTeapot: H. 4⅜" 11.1cmRinsing bowl: H. 3⅜" 8.5cmSugar bowl: H.
Description
TITLE: Meissen: Parts of a tea and coffee service
MAKER: Meissen Manufactory
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)
MEASUREMENTS: Coffeepot: H.9¼" 23.5cm
Milk jug: H. 6" 15.3cm
Teapot: H. 4⅜" 11.1cm
Rinsing bowl: H. 3⅜" 8.5cm
Sugar bowl: H. 4" 10.2cm
Four cups and saucers: Cups: H. 1¾" 4.5cm; Saucers: D. 5¼" 13.3cm
OBJECT NAME: Tea and coffee service
PLACE MADE: Meissen, Saxony, Germany
DATE MADE: 1763-1774
SUBJECT: Art
Domestic Furnishing
Industry and Manufacturing
CREDIT LINE: Hans C. Syz Collection
ID NUMBER: 1989.0715.05
COLLECTOR/ DONOR: 13,14,15,16,17,18
ACCESSION NUMBER:
(DATA SOURCE: National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center)
MARKS: Crossed swords with dot in underglaze blue; various impressed numbers (6,15,23,29,31,63).
PURCHASED FROM: Adolf Beckhardt, The Art Exchange, New York, 1941.
This rinsing bowl is from a tea and coffee 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 the German States, 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 Seven Years War of 1756-1763 brought Meissen’s production almost to a halt when Saxony was under Prussian occupation. In order to preserve the ‘secrets’ of porcelain manufacture much of the Meissen manufactory’s infrastructure was destroyed. The Saxony economy was severely weakened by the war which brought sales and commissions close to a standstill, and in addition Meissen faced growing competition from enterprises like Sèvres, Wedgwood, and the Thuringian manufactories. This tea and coffee service represents the awkward period of transition as Meissen sought to produce models that would appeal in a different political, cultural, and economic context.
The shapes seen in this service date from before the Seven Years War and the overglaze purple enamel painted subjects are based on prints in the style of Dutch landscape artists like Jan van de Velde II (1593-1641) popular in Meissen products of the 1740s and 1750s. Polychrome flourishes in sea-green, purple, blue, and yellow decorate the handles and finials. The service is outmoded in style at a time when the manufactory was at a low point following the war and the ensuing economic crisis. At the same time Meissen began to replace pre-war designs with those influenced by the French Sèvres porcelain manufactory.
The Meissen manufactory operated under a system of division of labor. Enamel painters specializing in landscapes, harbor, and river scenes with staffage (figures and animals) were paid more than those who painted flowers, fruits and underglaze blue patterns. Most painters received pay by the piece rather than a regular wage or salary.
On the post Seven Years War period at Meissen see Loesch, A., “Meissen Porcelain from 1763-1815” in Pietsch, U., Banz, C., 2010, Triumph of the Blue Swords: Meissen Porcelain for Aristocracy and Bourgoisie 1710-1815, pp.34-51.
On the painting division at Meissen see Rückert, R., 1990, Biographische Daten der Meissener Manufakturisten des 18. Jahrhunderts, pp. 134-136.
Hans Syz, J. Jefferson Miller II, Rainer Rückert, 1979, Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection: Meissen Porcelain and Hausmalerei, pp. 350-351.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1763-1774
1763-1774
maker
Meissen Manufactory
ID Number
1989.0715.05D
accession number
1989.0715
catalog number
1989.0715.05D
collector/donor number
16

Ceramic bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date designed
1939
date produced
1940
designer
Kogan, Belle
maker
Red Wing Potteries, Inc.
ID Number
1993.0234.02
catalog number
1993.0234.02
accession number
1993.0234

Bowl

This small creamware bowl is decorated with three transfer prints. Decorating the inside of the bowl is a print seen on examples made in Staffordshire and Liverpool. This print features a portrait of George Washington flanked by the allegorical figures of Liberty and Justice.
Description
This small creamware bowl is decorated with three transfer prints. Decorating the inside of the bowl is a print seen on examples made in Staffordshire and Liverpool. This print features a portrait of George Washington flanked by the allegorical figures of Liberty and Justice. Cartoon bubbles stretch from their mouths. Justice proclaims, -“Deafness to the Ear that will patiently hear & Dumbness to the tongue that will utter a Calumny against the immortal Washington.” Liberty is pointing to Washington as she says, “My Favorite Son.” Below the portrait is the statement, “Long live the president of the United States.” On the outside of the bowl are two generic prints of a river scene and a man and woman in a country setting. Robert H. McCauley purchased it from Charles Montgomery of White Plains, NY on April 26, 1944 for $12.50.
This bowl is part of the McCauley collection of American themed transfer print pottery. There is no mark on the bowl to tell us who made it, but it is characteristic of wares made in large volume for the American market in both Staffordshire and Liverpool between 1790 and 1820. Ceramics of this style, with a cream colored glaze over a pale earthenware clay, known as Liverpool type commonly featured transfer prints with subjects commemorating events and significant figures in the early decades of United States’ history. Notwithstanding the tense relationship between Britain and America, Liverpool and Staffordshire printers and potters seized the commercial opportunity offered them in the production of transfer printed earthenwares celebrating the heroes, the military victories, and the virtues of the young republic, and frequently all of these things at once.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.63.169
catalog number
63.169
accession number
248619
collector/donor number
44-354

Bowl

Raised, chased and repousse circular bowl with tapered sides and slightly everted rim on short, cyma-curved footring. Acanthus encircles bottom of body while four putti, one with both arms raised, ride four pairs of large, sprouting, scrolled leaves above.
Description
Raised, chased and repousse circular bowl with tapered sides and slightly everted rim on short, cyma-curved footring. Acanthus encircles bottom of body while four putti, one with both arms raised, ride four pairs of large, sprouting, scrolled leaves above. No marks.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
previous owner
Pell, Alfred Duane
ID Number
DL.60.0335
catalog number
60.0335
accession number
225282

Bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.62.1032
catalog number
62.1032
accession number
171126

Bowl

Two-handled circular bowl with molded rim and midband on plain circular foot ring. Engraved on one side "RBK" in conjoined shaded script over "1911". Two ring handles attached to mirib have tapered, horizontal extensions applied to their tops; one extension bent.
Description
Two-handled circular bowl with molded rim and midband on plain circular foot ring. Engraved on one side "RBK" in conjoined shaded script over "1911". Two ring handles attached to mirib have tapered, horizontal extensions applied to their tops; one extension bent. Exterior struck at back right of monogram below rim with a small incuse rectangle, and below midband with "M\N & W\B" in a rectangle next to three hallmarks, a lion passant facing left in scalloped-top and -bottom square, uncrowned leopard's head in scalloped-top shield, and raised roman letter "p" in clipped-corner, scalloped-bottom square. Underside of rounded bottom struck incuse "MAPPIN & WEBB / LONDON" in sans serif letters above "MA" and arrow motif in an oval; "66/12" is scratched at upper right of maker's mark.
Maker is Mappin & Webb of Oxford Street, London & The Royal Works, Sheffield. Firm's origins date to 1775, but known as Mappin and Webb & Co., 1868-1889, and Mappin & Webb Ltd., 1889-present. Above "M\N & W\B" in rectangle mark registered in December 1899.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1910-1911
ID Number
DL.69.0292
catalog number
69.0292
accession number
280127

Meissen rinsing bowl (part of a service)

TITLE: Meissen coffee and tea serviceMAKER: Meissen ManufactoryPHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)MEASUREMENTS: Two cups: H. 1¾" Two saucers: D. 5¼"; Coffeepot and cover: H. 9" 22.9cm; Teapot and cover: H. 4¼" 10.8cm; Milk jug and cover: H.
Description
TITLE: Meissen coffee and tea service
MAKER: Meissen Manufactory
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)
MEASUREMENTS: Two cups: H. 1¾" Two saucers: D. 5¼"; Coffeepot and cover: H. 9" 22.9cm; Teapot and cover: H. 4¼" 10.8cm; Milk jug and cover: H. 5½"14cm; Sugar bowl and cover: H. 4¼" 10.8cm; Bowl: H. 3½" 8.9cm
OBJECT NAME: Coffee and tea service
PLACE MADE: Meissen, Saxony, Germany
DATE MADE: 1740
SUBJECT: Art
Domestic Furnishing
Industry and Manufacturing
CREDIT LINE: Hans C. Syz Collection
ID NUMBER: Two cups and saucers 1981.0702.05; Coffee pot and cover 1981.0702.06ab; Teapot and cover 1981.0702.07ab; Milk jug and cover 1981.0702.08ab; Sugar bowl and cover 1981.0702.09ab. Rinsing bowl 1981.0702.10
COLLECTOR/ DONOR: 354;355;356;357;358;894
ACCESSION NUMBER:
(DATA SOURCE: National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center)
MARKS: Crossed swords in underglaze blue; “O” impressed on sugar bowl; “21” impressed on rinsing bowl.
PURCHASED FROM: Ginsburg & Levy, New York, 1943.
This rinsing bowl is from a coffee and 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 the German States, 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 tea and coffee service has large tree peony flowers distributed along rooted brown twigs with two or three upright thorny stems in blue rising behind. The brown rim lines derive from original Kakiemon pieces in which a brown pigment applied to the rims before glazing was said to give some protection against chipping. The pattern has a symmetry that is not characteristic of Japanese Kakiemon-style porcelains, but for the European market Arita painters adapted some of their patterns to suit the preference for greater symmetry and less empty space. No Japanese prototype for this onglaze enamel painted pattern has come to light and it is possible that it is an adaptation by Meissen designers based on Japanese Kakiemon-style vessels in the royal porcelain collection in Dresden.
Kakiemon is the name given to very white (nigoshida meaning milky-white) finely potted Japanese porcelain made in the Nangawara Valley near the town of Arita in the North-West of the island of Kyushu. The porcelain bears a characteristic style of enamel painting using a palette of translucent colors painted with refined assymetric designs attributed to a family of painters with the name Kakiemon. In the 1650s, when Chinese porcelain was in short supply due to civil unrest following the fall of the Ming Dynasty to the Manchu in 1644, Arita porcelain was at first exported to Europe through the Dutch East India Company’s base on Dejima in the Bay of Nagasaki. The Japanese traded Arita porcelain only with Chinese, Korean, and Dutch merchants and the Chinese resold Japanese porcelain to the Dutch in Batavia (present day Jakarta), to the English and French at the port of Canton (present day Guangzhou) and Amoy (present day Xiamen. Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, obtained Japanese porcelain through his agents operating in Amsterdam who purchased items from Dutch merchants there and at the annual Leipzig Fair, and from a Dutch dealer in Dresden, Elizabeth Bassetouche.
For two more examples of this pattern see Pietsch, U., 2011, Early Meissen Porcelain: the Wark Collectionfrom the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens, p.265; see also Weber, J., 2013, Meissener Porzellane mit Dekoren nach ostasiatischen Vorbildern: Stiftung Ernst Schneider in Schloss Lustheim, Band II, S. 195-198. Julia Weber identifies this pattern as one produced for the Parisian dealer Rodolphe Lemaire. On the origins of Arita porcelains see Takashi Nagatake, 2003, Classic Japanese Porcelain: Imari andKakiemon.
Jefferson Miller II, J., Rückert, R., Syz, H., 1979, Catalogue of the Hans Syz Collection: Meissen Porcelain and Hausmalerei, pp. 172-173.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1740
1740
maker
Meissen Manufactory
ID Number
1981.0702.10
accession number
1981.0702
catalog number
1981.0702.10
collector/donor number
894

Bowl

Circular bowl with plain, everted rim on molded, flared foot. One side of body is engraved with an armorial device for Field, consisting of a coat of arms having a chevron between three wheatsheafs, at center of "1920" and "1960" with "AMANDA S. DRAYE" below.
Description
Circular bowl with plain, everted rim on molded, flared foot. One side of body is engraved with an armorial device for Field, consisting of a coat of arms having a chevron between three wheatsheafs, at center of "1920" and "1960" with "AMANDA S. DRAYE" below. Bowl underside is struck incuse with two sets of marks: "GORHAM" above trademark (right-facing lion passant in clipped-corner square, anchor in shield, and gothic or Old English "G" in clipped-corner square), "STERLING", "41660" and a "9" in shield at top; "P.REVERE / REPRODUCTION" at bottom.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1959
date presented
1960
maker
Gorham Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1992.0294.01
catalog number
1992.0294.01
accession number
1992.0294

Bowl

Scrollwork-engraved octagonal or eight-paneled bowl with square banded rim on conforming, stepped-ogee foot.
Description
Scrollwork-engraved octagonal or eight-paneled bowl with square banded rim on conforming, stepped-ogee foot. Seven panels feature large, S-curve plumes topped by a single flower, while the eighth has a symmetrical C-scroll reserve inscribed "Mary Hooper / to Henry & Harriet Hooper / Nov\r/. 20. 1845." in script. Underside of flat bottom struck above and below centerpoint "LOWS, BALL & CO." and "Sterling Silver", both in raised roman letters in rectangles.
Maker is Lows, Ball & Co. of Boston, MA; in partnership, 1840-1846. Predecessor firm of Shreve, Crump & Low.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1845
date presented
1845-11-20
ID Number
DL.64.0052
catalog number
64.0052
accession number
246243

Bowl

Circular bowl with cast rim of C scrolls and clusters of three flowers, cyma-curved sides, and flat bottom; no foot ring. Gilt-washed interior.
Description
Circular bowl with cast rim of C scrolls and clusters of three flowers, cyma-curved sides, and flat bottom; no foot ring. Gilt-washed interior. Bottom underside struck incuse at top "STERLING" in sans serif letters and at bottom "621" and a partial mark of an Indian head with feather in profile, facing left; "1/2611" is scratched upside-down above "621".
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1892 - 1896
ID Number
DL.61.0314
catalog number
61.0314
accession number
200122

bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.75.130AEab
catalog number
75.130AEab
accession number
317832

Stand

Circular, openwork stand on three, curved legs. Frame is a single band of diagonals with two swags below between each leg. No marks.Contains a plain, spun bowl with narrow, flat rim and rounded well; no foot ring.
Description
Circular, openwork stand on three, curved legs. Frame is a single band of diagonals with two swags below between each leg. No marks.
Contains a plain, spun bowl with narrow, flat rim and rounded well; no foot ring. Three touch marks on underside, arranged in a circle at center, struck twice with what appears to be a woman running left holding drapery above and behind her, and once with a horse walking left under "[1]788", all in shields.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
DL.311680
catalog number
311680
accession number
64443

Bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Mellor, Venables and Company
ID Number
CE.62.956P
catalog number
62.956P
accession number
171126

bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.75.130AF
catalog number
75.130AF
accession number
317832

Bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.62.995A
catalog number
62.995A
accession number
171126

Bowl

This large creamware bowl is decorated with transfer prints on both its inside and outside. The interior center of the bowl features ship flying an American flag. Below the ship are the script initials “MC.” Near the inside edge of the bowl are floral prints.
Description
This large creamware bowl is decorated with transfer prints on both its inside and outside. The interior center of the bowl features ship flying an American flag. Below the ship are the script initials “MC.” Near the inside edge of the bowl are floral prints. Four prints decorate the outside surface of the bowl—Benjamin Franklin wearing his famous beaver cap, a mythological print involving mermaids, George Washington dressed in his Continental uniform, and an image of the Roman god Neptune. The portrait of Franklin on this bowl is based on the 1777 drawing by French artist Charles Nicolas Cochin. The print of Washington included on this bowl is copied from an engraving based on Pierre Eugene Du Simitière’s portrait of Washington executed in black lead on February 1, 1779. Maritime designs are especially common on English-made transfer printed creamware meant for the American market. Stock prints of ships, like the one on this example, were repeatedly used by English ceramics printers. Sometimes color was added to the print to make it more appealing to the consumer. Robert H. McCauley purchased this bowl from Steele’s Pilgrim Shop owned by Mrs. Frank Steele in West Cummington, MA on August 8, 1939 for $175.00.
This bowl is part of the McCauley collection of American themed transfer print pottery. There is no mark on the pitcher to tell us who made it, but it is characteristic of wares made in large volume for the American market in both Staffordshire and Liverpool between 1790 and 1820. Pitchers of this shape, with a cream colored glaze over a pale earthenware clay, known as Liverpool type, were the most common vessels to feature transfer prints with subjects commemorating events and significant figures in the early decades of United States’ history. Notwithstanding the tense relationship between Britain and America, Liverpool and Staffordshire printers and potters seized the commercial opportunity offered them in the production of transfer printed earthenwares celebrating the heroes, the military victories, and the virtues of the young republic, and frequently all of these things at once.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CE.63.099
catalog number
63.099
accession number
248881
collector/donor number
356

Chinese porcelain footed bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1821-1850
ID Number
CE.P-478
catalog number
P-478
accession number
225282

Meissen porcelain rinsing bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1722-1725
1722-1728
maker
Meissen Manufactory
ID Number
CE.P-809
catalog number
P-809
accession number
225282

Lowestoft porcelain bowl

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1775-1780
ID Number
CE.P-852
catalog number
P-852
accession number
225282

Rotary Food Mixer

Rotary bowl beater or food mixer. Four-bladed mixing end, with thin metal shaft, connected to cog wheels encased within lid, which screws onto top of spherical jar. Small, unpainted wooden handle on top of jar turns encased cog wheels for mixing action.
Description
Rotary bowl beater or food mixer. Four-bladed mixing end, with thin metal shaft, connected to cog wheels encased within lid, which screws onto top of spherical jar. Small, unpainted wooden handle on top of jar turns encased cog wheels for mixing action. Glass jar has bubble motif on bottom sides. Top of lid with mechanics inside is enameled black. No mark.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930-1940
ID Number
DL.322793.12
catalog number
76-FT-01.1045
accession number
322793
collector/donor number
412

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